Trump Administration May Eliminate Office of National Drug Control Policy/Drug Czar Position

Trump Administration May Eliminate Office of National Drug Control Policy/Drug Czar Position

The Trump Administration may eliminate the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), which is headed by the nation’s “Drug Czar”.

According to the New York Times, the White House budget office has drafted a hit list of programs that President Trump could eliminate to trim domestic spending.

The Times states that, “Mr. Trump has spoken volubly about the nation’s drug problems, yet the list includes the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, which dispenses grants to reduce drug use and drug trafficking.”

Eliminating the ONDCP would be an unprecedented move that would remove federal drug czar as a position in the government; given that the drug czar is forced by law to oppose any attempt to legalize an illegal substance – regardless of the merits in favor of doing so – it’s certainly not a position many drug reform advocates will be upset about losing.

Of course at this point anything can happen, and Trump may very well end up retaining and funding the ONDCP, but the fact that he may not is an interesting revelation.