{{Short description|Informal name for a policy position}} '''Drug czar''' is an informal name for the person who directs drug-control policies in various areas. The term follows the informal use of the term ''czar'' in U.S. politics. The 'drug czar' title first appeared in a 1982 news story by United Press International that reported that, "[United States] Senators ... voted 62–34 to establish a 'drug czar' who would have overall responsibility for U.S. drug policy."<ref>{{cite web|author1=Anthony H. Gamboa|title=Letter to Hon. John W. Olver & Hon. Henry A. Waxman, subject: ''Office of National Drug Control Policy''|url=http://www.csdp.org/research/303495.pdf|website=csdp.org|publisher=U.S. Government Accountability Office|accessdate=4 August 2014|pages=14–15|date=4 January 2005|quote=We conclude that ONDCP’s prepackaged news stories violate the ban on covert propaganda, but its use of the term "drug czar" to refer to ONDCP’s Director does not violate the ban on self-aggrandizement.}}</ref> Since then, several ''ad hoc'' executive positions established in both the United States and United Kingdom have been referred to in this manner.
== Germany == The Drug Commissioner of the German Federal Government has been called the nation's drug czar by the state media company Deutsche Welle.<ref>{{citation|title=German Youths Choose Alcohol Over Cannabis, Drug Czar Says|publisher=Deutsche Welle|date=May 5, 2008|url=http://www.dw.com/en/german-youths-choose-alcohol-over-cannabis-drug-czar-says/a-3312530}}</ref>
== United States == [[File:Drug Czar Visits Covenant House (3858774035).jpg|thumb|Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske speaks with staff and patients at the Covenant House, which helps drug-addicted teenagers and adults.]]
The first US Drug czar was Harry J. Anslinger, who served as the first Commissioner of the Treasury Department's ''Federal Bureau of Narcotics'' from 1930 to 1962, under the administrations of five presidents: Herbert Hoover, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. Legislative efforts for marijuana prohibition under Anslinger included a push for all states to adopt similar drug laws, the Uniform State Narcotic Drug Act and the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, which in effect criminalized the drug and set the stage for marijuana prohibition.
=== Nixon and Ford administrations === * Jerome Jaffe, head of the Special Office for Drug Abuse Prevention * Myles Ambrose, head of the Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement (ODALE) * Robert DuPont, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and head of the Narcotics Treatment Administration
=== Carter administration === * Peter Bourne, Director of the National Drug Control Policy followed by Lee I Dogoloff * Mathea Falco, Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics
=== Reagan administration === * Carlton Turner PhD, ScD, Director of the Drug Abuse Policy Office. Turner, while working as drug czar, was in communication with Elisaldo Carlini, a scientist in Brazil whose lab was studying the beneficial effects of CBD. Turner helped establish the Marijuana Research Project at the University of Mississippi<ref name="NYT20200523">{{cite news |last1=Lewis|first1=Amanda Chicago |title=A Hidden Origin Story of the CBD Craze |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/23/sunday-review/coronavirus-cbd-oil.html |accessdate=24 May 2020 |newspaper=New York Times |date=23 May 2020}}</ref> * D. Ian McDonald, MD. Deputy Assistant to the President, Drug Abuse Policy Office *Vice President George H.W. Bush, who created and oversaw the Vice President's National Narcotics Border Interdiction System
=== 1988–present === * The Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy
=== Trump administration === * The Chair of the Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission,<ref group=note>In March 2017, it was announced that governor of New Jersey Chris Christie was to head the commission.</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/03/29/chris-christie-to-lead-trump-white-house-drug-commission/ |title=Chris Christie to lead Trump White House drug commission |date=2021-11-26 |orig-date=2017-03-29 |author1=Philip Rucker |newspaper=The Washington Post |place=Washington, D.C. |issn=0190-8286 |oclc=1330888409}}{{WaPoCheckDates}}</ref> (who has been described as an "opioid czar")<ref>{{cite web |last=Tanner |first=Michael D. |date=25 October 2017 |title=Do We Really Need a Drug Czar? |url=https://www.cato.org/commentary/do-we-really-need-drug-czar |website=Cato Institute |location=Washington D.C. |access-date=29 January 2025}}</ref>
=== State and local authorities === In California, the head of the state Bureau of Medical Cannabis has been called "marijuana czar".<ref>{{citation|newspaper=The Los Angeles Times|title=Has she smoked weed? What will happen with recreational pot?: A conversation with California's first marijuana czar|author= Patrick McGreevy|date=April 7, 2016|url=http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-lori-ajax-marijuana-regulator-20160408-htmlstory.html}}</ref>
Following statewide medical and recreational legalization, the city of Sacramento, California appointed a director of cannabis policy and enforcement, called a pot czar.<ref>{{citation|title=Sacramento 'Pot Czar' preparing for legalization of recreational marijuana sales|publisher=KXTV ABC 10 TV News|date=October 31, 2017|url=http://www.abc10.com/news/local/sac-pot-czar-this-is-a-huge-moment/487804512|access-date=November 11, 2017|archive-date=September 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230920040243/http://www.abc10.com/news/local/sac-pot-czar-this-is-a-huge-moment/487804512|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In Washington State, the consultant to the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board determining statewide procedures and regulations following legalization was "quickly dubbed 'pot czar'".<ref>{{citation|title=Don't Call Him the "Pot Czar": Mark Kleiman Is Advising the State on How to Run a Legal Pot Industry|author=Ben Livingston|work=The Stranger|date=April 10, 2013|url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/dont-call-him-the-pot-czar/Content?oid=16460452}}</ref> A similar cannabis regulation staff position in Oregon Liquor Control Commission was also called "marijuana czar".<ref>{{citation|title=Oregon's marijuana czar ready to look for answers|author=Anna Staver|date=December 18, 2014 |newspaper=Statesman Journal|location=Salem, Oregon|url=http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/politics/2014/12/19/oregons-marijuana-czar-ready-look-answers/20626413/}}</ref>
== United Kingdom == In the UK, Keith Hellawell, former Drugs Advisor to the Labour government of Tony Blair, has been referred to as a drug czar.
==See also== *List of U.S. executive branch 'czars'
==Notes== {{reflist|group=note}}
==References== {{reflist|20em}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20140808045811/http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/07/29/4045933/senators-urge-obama-to-deliver.html Senators urge Obama to deliver consistent message on marijuana] ''Fresno Bee'', July 29, 2014
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drug Czar}} Category:Directors of the Office of National Drug Control Policy