CBS reports that President Trump plans to name Congressman Tom Marino (R-PA) to head the Office of National Drug Control Policy, an office colloquially known as the federal government’s “Drug Czar.”

Rep. Marino has a long history of taking a hard line on the drug war. He voted against the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment that barred the Department of Justice from spending federal funds to prosecute state-legal medicinal marijuana operations. The amendment, which has passed several times with bipartisan support, allows state medical marijuana industries to function without the constant fear of federal prosecution. Rep. Marino also voted to prevent Veterans’ Affairs doctors at facilities in states with legal marijuana from prescribing medical marijuana to their patients.

While the Drug Czar has a limited impact on policy, the expected nomination of Rep. Marino is another red flag for marijuana reform advocates.

44 states and the District of Columbia allow some form of legal cannabis consumption, including eight states (and D.C.) which have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. The dire predictions of drug warriors in those states have not come true.

As we’ve noted before, Donald Trump campaigned on a relatively moderate platform regarding marijuana legalization, but his choices for key drug policy positions in the administration continue to raise the specter of a federal crackdown on marijuana reform efforts.

Of course the drug war isn’t just about marijuana.  A new Cato policy analysis from Christopher J. Coyne and Abigail R. Hall demonstrates how four decades of a hardline approach to drug policy in America have failed. 

With a growing heroin and opioid epidemic, it’s time to ditch the failed prohibitionist policies of the drug war. Countries like Portugal have successfully abandoned the militarized approach to drug policy; it’s time for the United States to do the same. 

Unfortunately, President Trump appears to be moving in the wrong direction.