To date, Obama has prioritized the cabinet nominations of: Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Treasury, Secretary of Homeland Security, Attorney General, Secretary of Interior, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Environmental Protection Agency, Secretary of Veteran Affairs, National Security Adviser, Director of National Intelligence, Director of National Economic Council, Director of Securities and Exchange Commission, US Trade Representative and Director of Office of Management and Budget.

But no Drug Czar (or Czarina)!

Obama told the media that his entire cabinet would be nominated before he is to begin his last semi-sane holiday break this week with his family. But that didn't happen. Hmmmmm. One wonders why not? Looks like one reputed nominee for Drug Czar, retiring Republican congressman Jim Ramstad of Minnesota is getting hung up in the political vetting process.

Some in the media and in drug policy reform inform NORML that Atlanta police chief Richard J. Pennington might emerge as the potential nominee. Some speculate that current Drug Czar transition team leader, Dr. Don Vereen, might pull a ‘Cheney’ and offer himself up as the best person to head the ONDCP.

Whatever the case and whomever the nominee, is the ONDCP nominee and their staff going to closely adhere to Obama’s stated goal that health (and environmental) policy-making in his administration, unlike the current Bush White House, will be guided by contemporary and credible science—and not ideology or politics? In one of Obama’s weekly radio addresses, he asserted that science and rational thinking is going to instruct much of his decision-making in the realms of education, public health and environmental protection.

To demonstrate this, Obama nominated two prominent scientists and not "political hacks" to fill important science policy-making roles in his new administration. “Because the truth is that promoting science isn’t just about providing resources – it’s about protecting free and open inquiry. It’s about ensuring that facts and evidence are never twisted or obscured by politics or ideology. It’s about listening to what our scientists have to say, even when it’s inconvenient - especially when it’s inconvenient. Because the highest purpose of science is the search for knowledge, truth and a greater understanding of the world around us. That will be my goal as President of the United States.” - President-elect Barack Obama

NORML certainly hopes that Obama’s professed support for science over political ideology logically extends to repairing and overhauling the country’s totally flawed and decidedly unscientific approach in administering a functional and economical criminal justice system—fueled in large part by antiquated and misguided illicit drug laws, notably the abject failure of 70 plus years of cannabis prohibition laws.

In the interim, please join thousands of other drug policy reform supporters, with a bit-of-tongue-in-cheek, in advancing Drug Policy Alliance director Ethan Nadelmann, Ph.D as Obama’s next Drug Czar. Now that is change I can believe in!

Who President-elect Obama nominates for Drug Czar will strongly demonstrate whether or not he genuinely believes in science as a guiding principle in replacing failed, feckless, racist and politically expedient law enforcement efforts to ‘control’ drugs with, ultimately, effective, commonsense, scientific and public health-based alternatives to America’s failed war on some drugs.

• Conservatives Upset at Money Wasted on Drug War (10 May 2003)
  Conservative Republican watchdog analysts are upset with the government's incessant wasting of our tax dollars, namely the ones spent on a drug War that has only increased drug use among teenagers.
  
• Help Keep the Heat on Drug Czar! (9 June 2003)
  Last Thursday, June 5, the Marijuana Policy Project, working in conjunction with the Drug Policy Alliance, scored a remarkable victory in Congress when the House Government Reform Committee placed strong (and new) restrictions on the use of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign for political purposes. Please take two minutes to send a fax to your U.S. representative, urging him or her to support three important amendments when the bill reaches the House floor as early as next week. These amendments are detailed in the following article.
  
• War On Drugs Assailed in Congress (12 July 2003)
  (ONDCP) Reauthorization Act of 2003. The Democrats on the committee did not rubberstamp this bill; instead, they used the hearing as an opportunity to attack not only the Bush administration's medical marijuana policy, but also the war on drugs in its entirety.
  
• FDA Makes False Claims About Marijuana (01 MAY 2006)
  Last Friday, 24 members of Congress demanded that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) account for its disingenuous April 20 statement claiming that “no sound scientific studies” support the medical use of marijuana.
  
• Backlash from FDA's Bogus Marijuana Report (02 MAY 2006)
  The FDA’s claim, of course, is patently false. Numerous credible scientific studies document marijuana’s medical benefits, most notably a 1999 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report commissioned by the White House drug czar’s office.
  
• More Illegal Federal Harassment (31 AUGUST 2007)
  On Tuesday, agents of the Pecos Valley Drug Taskforce in conjunction with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration searched the home of a registered medical marijuana patient who has lost the use of his legs and suffers chronic pain and muscle spasms due to a spinal cord injury.