Who Should Be the Next Drug Czar?
We will have a new president in January 2009, and that means we will have a new cabinet as well, including a new head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP--the drug czar's office). Who should the next drug czar be?
Do we want another general? Another drug war true believer? (Would that be a job requirement?) A doctor? A public health person? A lawyer? An activist? A politician?
The progressive web site The Backbone Campaign is seeking "shadow cabinet" nominations. Anyone can nominate anyone. Here's the list so far for the drug czar position:
Nominee(s):
Ethan Nadelmann
Dean Becker
Tom Hayden
Gary Johnson
Rep. Maxine Waters
Russell Simmons
Bill Maher
Al Sharpton
Keith Stroup
I'd be happy with any of these folks, including our buddy Dean Becker from the Drug Truth Network. I'll also suggest a couple more: Professor Peter Reuter of the University of Maryland, co-author of "Drug War Heresies," knows drug policy issues inside and out and is a pretty progressive fellow on these issues. And, of course, in a perfect world, the next drug czar would be Tommy Chong. But I don't know if he could make it through the committee hearings...
Who's your nominee?
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Comment posted by smorgan on Mon, 08/06/2007 - 4:01pmI was unaware that ONDCP's bylaws prohibit evaluating the merits of legalization.
Still, I imagine it's just a question of terminology. I'm glad you brought this up, Phil. It won't be long before we're looking at this issue much more seriously, which will probably involve studying the backgrounds of various unknown bureaucrats.
Another person not in the list
Comment posted by roaringsilence on Mon, 08/06/2007 - 6:13pmI would nominate Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a strong advocate of medical marijuana in congress. Since he's a Republican the GOPers in the Senate would not choose to object due to their congressional courtesy and Dems wouldn't have any problem either.
Eric Sterling
Comment posted by smorgan on Mon, 08/06/2007 - 8:41pmOf course, no one would ever allow this to happen. But if it were up to me, I think Eric would be a superb choice. I'm sure he'd gladly step up.
ONDCP
Comment posted by toconnor53 on Tue, 08/07/2007 - 9:26amI appreciate the humor of this premise, but PLEASE lets just abolish this wasteful government agency.
CZAR
Comment posted by M Simon on Thu, 08/09/2007 - 1:36pmBozo the Clown.
No wait. He's dead.
Come to think of it, good choice after all.
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Alternative Choice: Wavy Gravy.
A point well taken. Maybe it's time for Reaganite tactics.
Comment posted by psmith on Mon, 08/06/2007 - 3:26pmYou know, appointing someone to head an agency whose mission it is to destroy it.