DEA Anti-Pot Crusader Michele Leonhart Is About to Resign

UPDATE: Attorney General Eric Holder just released a statement confirming Leonhart is retiring in mid-May.

Michele Leonhart, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, once remarked that the day the hemp flag flew over the capital was the "worst day of her 33-year career at the DEA." But the days surrounding April 20, 2015, could prove to be the real nadir of the Bush appointee's professional life. That's when, CBS first reported, she met with Department of Justice officials about her pending resignation.

Last month, Leonhart came under fire when a Department of Justice report found agents were having cartel-funded sex parties in Colombia under her command. There were also apparently big issues with the way internal affairs reported and handled accusations of sexual misconduct, which allowed agents to get away with these sorts of things with alarming frequency.

Last week, Leonhart finally answered to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about her supposed mismanagement of the overgrown frat boys. And it didn't go well.

"After over a decade of serving in top leadership positions at DEA, Administrator Leonhart has been woefully unable to change or positively influence the pervasive 'good old boy' culture that exists throughout the agency," the committee said in a statement. "From her testimony, it is clear that she lacks the authority and will to make the tough decisions required to hold those accountable who compromise national security and bring disgrace to their position."

But while DEA agents may mourn the loss of an administrator who looked the other way while they got wasted and solicited hookers, others are celebrating the news of Leonhart's resignation. In particular, advocates of drug policy reform are joyously awaiting the departure of the anti-marijuana administrator who in 2012, famously refused to say whether pot was more or less harmful than meth or crack.

"It is appropriate that Michele Leonhart resign," Congressman Steve Cohen, who authored the House version of a federal medical marijuana bill, said in a statement Tuesday. "Hopefully her successor will help lead the effort to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I, where it is currently restricted at the same level as heroin and at a higher level than more harmful drugs like cocaine."

In recent years Leonhart has increasingly been at odds with the Obama administration's softened stance on legal weed. As a result, the Marijuana Policy Project launched a petition last year calling for Leonhart's resignation that has since amassed more than 45,000 signatures.

"While most of the country has been progressing in its views on marijuana policy, Ms. Leonhart has maintained a mindset straight out of the 1930s," MPP's federal policy director Dan Riffle said in a statement Tuesday. "Hopefully her resignation will mark the end of the 'Reefer Madness' era at the DEA."

The DEA couldn't immediately be reached for comment about the resignation, but last Friday, Leonhart reportedly sent out an email thanking the agency for their support.

"This has been a very difficult week for DEA, with members of Congress and the media asking tough questions and sharing our outrage about the disgraceful conduct of a few individuals several years ago," she wrote, according to CNN. "This employee misconduct has upset me for many reasons, but especially because it calls into question the incredible reputation DEA has built over more than 40 years."

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