Several readers are making this point:
In light of the Obama administration's response to the petitions relating to marijuana legalization, I thought I would point out a little known fact about the drug czar: he/she is legally required to oppose any effort to legalize marijuana or any other illegal drug, regardless of the facts. This is required by sec. 704 of the Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 1998, where, among the duties laid out for the drug czar is to "take such actions as necessary to oppose any attempt to legalize the use of a substance (in any form) that — (A) is listed in schedule I of section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812); and (B) has not been approved for use for medical purposes by the Food and Drug Administration".
In light of this, having the drug czar write the response to the marijuana petitions is clearly a farce. I started a new petition pointing out this fact and asking for a response by someone else, which can be found here. It appears that the petitions require 150 signatures to become searchable on the White House's site, so if you are so inclined I would welcome any help getting the word out about the petition. That clause of the ONDCP reauthorization act is clearly detrimental to any kind of free and open exchange about drug laws between the people and the government, and I feel people should be made aware of it.
The Dish 