Trump Nominates FL Sheriff to Head DEA, Costa Rica Court Nixes Legal Weed, More... (12/2/24)

A DEA administrative law judge rejects a request to remove the agency from its role in the rescheduling process, Amnesty International issues a report scorching the Philippines' drug war, and more. 

Amnesty International researchers at a press conference announcing the release of their new report on the Philippines drug war. (Mauricia Donaldo/Amnesty International)

DEA Judge Rejects Motion to Remove Agency as Proponent of Marijuana Rescheduling. A DEA marijuana rescheduling hearing is taking place today, and the DEA administrative law judge handling the case has ruled that a motion to remove the agency as the proponent of the rescheduling effort has been dismissed. 

Today's hearing is primarily concerned with process issues. The full hearing is set for early next year. The judge's ruling came before today's hearing. 

Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Human Services, the agency that first recommended that marijuana be rescheduled, has declined an invitation to participate in today's hearing. 

Administrative Law Judge John Mulrooney dealt with a November 18 motion filed by industry entity Village Farms and the veterans' group Hemp for Victory that accused the DEA of working with prominent anti-reform groups like Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) to "stack the deck" against rescheduling.

While he denied the motion, citing statutory limitations, he criticized both the DEA and SAM's responses to the charges of improper communications, qualifying them as "distasteful" and "unhelpful" to the public perception of transparency in the process. 

Drug Policy

Trump Nominates Florida Sheriff Chad Chronister to Lead DEA. President-elect Donald Trump has nominated a Florida sheriff to lead the nation's premier prohibitionist federal agency. Hillsborough County (Tampa) Sheriff Chad Chronister was given the nod on Saturday. 

"For over 32 years, Sheriff Chad Chronister has served the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, and received countless commendations and awards for keeping his community SAFE," Trump wrote in his announcement moments. "A proud graduate of the FBI National Academy's 260th Session, Chad is Co-Chairman of the Regional Domestic Security Task Force for Region IV Tampa Bay, Council Member of the Florida Attorney General’s Statewide Council on Human Trafficking, Chairman of the Criminal Justice Sub-Committee, Vice-Chairman of the Hillsborough County Public Safety Coordinating Council, and Vice-Chairman of the Hillsborough County Public Schools Citizen Oversight Committee," he continued.

Trump added that Chronister will work with attorney general nominee Pam Bondi, a former Florida attorney general and Trump loyalist, to "secure the Border, stop the flow of Fentanyl, and other Illegal Drugs, across the Southern Border, and SAVE LIVES."  [Idiosyncratic capitalization in the original.]

Chronister was appointed Hillsborough County sheriff by then-Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) in 2017 and has been re-elected twice. 

His law enforcement career has not been especially notable and the reason for his selection is unclear. However, there is a sleaze and glitz connection similar to those around other Trump nominees. Chronister's father-in-law is tycoon Edward DeBartolo, a former owner of the San Francisco 49ers NFL team. DeBartolo was convicted of gambling-related fraud in a 1998 case. Trump pardoned him in 2020.

International

Costa Rica Constitutional Court Rules Marijuana Legalization Bill Violates International Treaties. The country's Constitutional Court ruled last week that a bill before parliament seeking to legalize marijuana conflicts with international treaties that the government has signed, specifically the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and its two follow-up treaties in 1971 and 1988. In doing so, the bill also violates the Costa Rican constitution, which establishes that international treaties supersede national law. 

"Bill No. 23,383, called ‘Law on the control and regulation of cannabis for recreational use’ and, in substance, declares that the bill is unconstitutional for contravening the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 – approved by Law No. 4544, of March 18, 1970 -, the Vienna Convention on Psychotropic Substances – approved by Law No. 4990, of June 10, 1972 -, and the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances – approved by Law No. 7198, of September 25, 1990," the Court resolved.

The country has already legalized medical marijuana and industrial hemp, but recreational legalization crosses a line for the court. 

Legalization has been on the agenda of President Rodrigo Chaves, who announced his support for it in 2022. A legalization bill was filed that year but has been stalled by legislative opposition ever since. But the issue was kept alive by a citizen request for a popular consultation—in other words, a referendum. That triggered a request from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to the legislature's Technical Services Department for an opinion on the constitutionality of the proposal. 

The department found that the bill did raise constitutional concerns because of its conflict with the treaties, and the Attorney General's Office issued a similar opinion. Now, the Constitutional Court has agreed, blocking any further progress on legalization, either in the legislature or via the referendum process. 

For legalization to happen now, the government would have to formally disassociate the country from the three anti-drug conventions. 

Amnesty International Report Slams Philippines Drug War Detentions. In a new report, "Submit and Surrender: The Harms of Arbitrary Drug Detention in the Philippines," the international human rights group Amnesty International slammed the Philippines government for "systemic failures and human rights violations" in the Philippine government’s handling of the illegal drug problem.

Amnesty researcher Rachel Chhoa-Howard told a news conference last week that the group had documented thousands of cases of extrajudicial executions, arbitrary abuses, and other violations. She also criticized the government for failing to conduct investigations of drug war crimes and failing to fully cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is investigating the particularly bloody drug war under the government of former President Rodrigo Duterte. 

"While Amnesty continues to call for an end to the killings and for justice and accountability, we cannot ignore the ongoing violations of the right to health," Chhoa-Howard said.

She also said that while the administration of current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signaled it would shift its drug-fighting approach to a public health perspective, the punisher impulse still persists. Instead of nice talk, Chhoa-Howard said, there needs to be real reform and a focus on public health and human rights. 

Another Amnesty researcher at the press conference, Jerrie Abella, went even further, calling for drug decriminalization. 

"To achieve a genuinely human rights-compliant approach to drugs, the Philippine government must move away from punitive and harmful responses. Instead, it must adopt evidence-based initiatives. This includes the decriminalization of the use, possession, contribution, and acquisition of drugs," Abella said.