Monday, November 17, 2008

More drug czar speculation... Keep in mind that I really think this is really too early to be picking drug czars, but people can't help speculating. The latest comes from Ryan Grim at the Politico. Rep. Jim Ramstad's name is bouncing around as a possible "drug czar" -- the name given the head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Ramstad, a Minnesota Republican, is in recovery himself and has been a longtime proponent of treatment for drug abuse. Along with Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), he has been an advocate for mental health parity -- the push to treat mental illness with the same effort as physical illness. Ramstad has consistently voted against medical marijuana in Congress, opposing an effort to prevent the federal government from raiding or arresting medical marijuana clubs in states where it is legal. While certainly it could be a positive step to focus on treatment more than enforcement, as Radley says: Fear the ex-addict who enters the public policy debate to "prevent others from making my mistakes." 8:24:00 AM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []