I am wondering what his salary will be, ~$250,000 USD/year maybe?
Also, if the vote was 92-0 did Rand Paul vote 'Yes' or was he absent?
I might look it up later, just curious...
Topic: The Senate voted 92-0 to confirm Obama's new drug czar (Read 383 times)
Quote
WASHINGTON — As a gay recovering alcoholic, Michael Botticelli is not your father’s drug czar.
He’s not a cop, a military general or a governor, like drug czars of the past. His specialty is treatment; he rose to prominence as the head of the Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Abuse Services.
And Botticelli, who’s served as the acting drug czar since last March, has been in recovery for more than a quarter century, after a 1988 drunken-driving accident left him handcuffed to a hospital bed.
[...]
Like Gil Kerlikowske, the former Seattle police chief whom he’d replace, Botticelli finds himself in the middle of the nation’s pot wars.
Those who support marijuana legalization note Botticelli’s opposition and say he should back off and take a cue from the president, who’s made it clear that he’s comfortable allowing states to experiment with selling pot.
Legalization opponents, meanwhile, say Botticelli talks tough but should be doing more to get the Justice Department and Obama to enforce the federal law that criminalizes marijuana.
Tom Angell, chairman of Marijuana Majority, a pro-legalization group, said Botticelli was “clearly in a tough place,” with states moving quickly to legalize marijuana and polls showing most Americans supporting an end to criminal penalties.
“His best bet, and probably preference, would be to just shut up about the issue,” Angell said. “Unluckily for him, though, people keep asking him about it.”
Responding to questions from senators in a written statement, Botticelli said marijuana posed serious health risks and that he was concerned about the cross-border trafficking of the drug outside Colorado, where its use is legal under state law.
Botticelli, a New York native, said the drug czar’s office was leading an effort to monitor marijuana use in the country and examine its effects. But he said the Obama administration “is committed to enforcement” of the Controlled Substances Act, which bans the sale of marijuana and puts it in the same category as drugs such as heroin and LSD.
“Under U.S. federal law, marijuana remains a Schedule I drug under the CSA, subject to a high level of control, with criminal penalties for its illegal distribution and sale,” Botticelli said in his written answers.
He’s not a cop, a military general or a governor, like drug czars of the past. His specialty is treatment; he rose to prominence as the head of the Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Abuse Services.
And Botticelli, who’s served as the acting drug czar since last March, has been in recovery for more than a quarter century, after a 1988 drunken-driving accident left him handcuffed to a hospital bed.
[...]
Like Gil Kerlikowske, the former Seattle police chief whom he’d replace, Botticelli finds himself in the middle of the nation’s pot wars.
Those who support marijuana legalization note Botticelli’s opposition and say he should back off and take a cue from the president, who’s made it clear that he’s comfortable allowing states to experiment with selling pot.
Legalization opponents, meanwhile, say Botticelli talks tough but should be doing more to get the Justice Department and Obama to enforce the federal law that criminalizes marijuana.
Tom Angell, chairman of Marijuana Majority, a pro-legalization group, said Botticelli was “clearly in a tough place,” with states moving quickly to legalize marijuana and polls showing most Americans supporting an end to criminal penalties.
“His best bet, and probably preference, would be to just shut up about the issue,” Angell said. “Unluckily for him, though, people keep asking him about it.”
Responding to questions from senators in a written statement, Botticelli said marijuana posed serious health risks and that he was concerned about the cross-border trafficking of the drug outside Colorado, where its use is legal under state law.
Botticelli, a New York native, said the drug czar’s office was leading an effort to monitor marijuana use in the country and examine its effects. But he said the Obama administration “is committed to enforcement” of the Controlled Substances Act, which bans the sale of marijuana and puts it in the same category as drugs such as heroin and LSD.
“Under U.S. federal law, marijuana remains a Schedule I drug under the CSA, subject to a high level of control, with criminal penalties for its illegal distribution and sale,” Botticelli said in his written answers.
More...http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2015/02/05/255696/obamas-new-drug-czar-nominee-wins.html
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