President Donald Trump’s choice to serve as the next White House drug czar has called medical marijuana a “fantastic” treatment option for seriously ill patients and said she doesn’t have a “problem” with legalization, even if she might not personally agree with the policy.
Trump picked Sara Carter, a journalist known for her coverage of drug cartels, to serve as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
The president said Carter has “been on the front lines of this International Fight for decades” and ” will lead the charge to protect our Nation.”
Given the role of ONDCP director in setting and carrying out the administrative agenda on drug policy issues, the fact that Carter has gone on the record enthusiastically endorsing medical cannabis will likely be welcome news for advocates amid the Senate confirmations of officials with a mixed bag of marijuana records.
Under longstanding federal statute, the drug czar is prohibited from endorsing the legalization of Schedule I drugs in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), including marijuana.
Trump himself has previously expressed support for medical cannabis, as well as rescheduling of marijuana under federal law.
While Carter has spoken often about various marijuana policy issues—focusing attention on illicit trafficking and illegal grow operations on U.S. land, for example—her public comments on how she personally feels about the topic are limited. What she did say last year in an episode of her podcast, The Sara Carter Show, signaled that she draws a distinction between legally regulated and illicitly supplied marijuana.
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