cannabisnews.com: Ambushed: Sober Justice Ambushed: Sober Justice Posted by CN Staff on August 01, 2003 at 17:47:51 PT By Christine Pelisek Source: LA Weekly Drug reform may go the way of the bong thanks to President Bush’s choice of Karen Tandy as the new chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration.The 49-year-old Texan has spent most of her career prosecuting drug cases. Her repertoire includes busting mail-order bong sellers, including comedian Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong fame, in Operation Pipe Dreams, and those in the throes of California and Oregon’s state-approved medical-marijuana programs. That’s not all. The Nation uncovered numerous instances of excessiveness while Tandy worked as a U.S. Justice Department prosecutor, including a case in which she and two federal agents were prohibited from participating in the investigation of major marijuana traffickers Christopher and Robert Reckmeyer in the Eastern District of Virginia in 1984 because they read documents the court ruled were protected by attorney-client privilege. In the same case, a year later, the Washington Post reported that Tandy withheld 60,000 pages of documents until three days before the trial began.The Nation also reported that Tandy, while negotiating a plea agreement in 1982 in Virginia with first-time offender Michael Harvey, altered the wording without the consent of Harvey, his attorney or the court, which set him up for another conviction in a South Carolina federal court. In 1987, Tandy failed to hand over exculpatory evidence in the cocaine-distribution case of Alfredo Arroyo, which resulted in an acquittal after the jury concluded he had been entrapped.Last month, Tandy sailed through the Senate Judiciary Committee. Next is the full Senate. Note: The long list of problems with Bush’s nominee for DEA chief. Source: LA Weekly (CA)Author: Christine Pelisek Published: Vol. 25 No. 37 - August 1 - 7, 2003Copyright: 2003 Los Angeles Weekly, Inc.Contact: letters laweekly.comWebsite: http://www.laweekly.com/Related Articles:New DEA Drug Warriorhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16958.shtmlThe Chill Is On - Jacob Sullumhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16889.shtmlTandy Won't Be Dandy for Medical Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16876.shtmlA New Hard-Liner At The DEAhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16859.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #5 posted by billos on August 01, 2003 at 20:12:09 PT: Tandy Just what America needs. Another C_ _T with lots of power trying to eradicate the cannabis culture. Gee, just think: in 2008 we could be governed by Tandy, Rice, and Clinton. My God, Canada sure looks sweeter and sweeter. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Petard on August 01, 2003 at 18:58:56 PT Typical Fed Worker She screws up repeatedly, costing the taxpayers a bunch of wasted money, generates a bunch of paper flow in the process, so she gets promoted. She's gonna be more gung ho and reckless than even Janet Reno was. Look for another Ruby Ridge or Waco, only this time carried out by the DEA and their self described "ninja's". What a fantastic bunch of "experts" we have assembled in Washington, Assa (annointed in Crisco), John Pee, Dandy Tandy,the Pentagon official formerly known as Poindexter (Iran-Contra, possibly Bush's cocaine connection?), and Bush himself (Mr. I did not lie about that WMD but God told me to kill Saddam and Osama, and aparently 100,000 Iraqi civilians too) [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by FoM on August 01, 2003 at 18:54:31 PT We Are Alive and Well The reason I try very hard to stay on Cannabis issues is because we shouldn't even have to have this web site. Not in the year 2003. If changing the laws on a non addicting herb can't be accomplished how can any other unjust laws be changed? [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Virgil on August 01, 2003 at 18:14:07 PT What does that mean? Drug reform may go the way of the bong thanks to President Bush’s choice of Karen Tandy as the new chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration.Sounds like this guy should be a politician instead of a reporter. I guess he thinks that this one person is some plug in the dam that fixes the demands for reform. If that is what he is saying, who wants to listen to such nonsense. ? We already have Walter's remark that the effort demanding the Logical Conclusion reached the highwater mark on November 5th. He we want stupidity there is enough of that already.We are one book or one movie from ignition that will destroy prohibition. The plutocracy tries to confuse the issue into left and right. It is more about up and down as in evaporate up and stop the trickle down. On the constitutional right the War of Insanity is regarded for the failure and wrongness it is and in the center and on the left. There is no need to look left and right. It is time to look up and look down. Look up to the industries controlled by wealthy people themselves and look down to those denied freedom in the form of prison. Look up to the pill companies whose lobbyist outnumber Congressmen and look down on those denied herbal remedies.It is one thing for the media to confuse people with left and right and ignoring right and wrong and up and down at the same time.CP sucks. CP is immoral. CP is wrong. CP is mass murder. CP is treason. Funny how you do not have someone on one of those 1000 channels saying that. There will be an awakening and it will not be for tougher sentences. The calls are all for ending it. Stop the sentences and put the prohibition period to rest- period. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by WolfgangWylde on August 01, 2003 at 18:10:15 PT I hate to break.... ...to the author of the article, but Drug Reform is alive and well, and moving ahead quickly. The U.S. is not the center of the universe. Americans now have to figure out how to be a Prohbitionist country in a decidedly Non-Prohibitionist world. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment