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The next national drug czar is likely to be a congressman who was an early supporter of President Donald Trump, the head of the Pennsylvania Republican Party said Tuesday. Party chairman Val DiGiorgio said "any day now" he expects an announcement from the White House that four-term U.S. Rep. Tom Marino has been nominated to be the next director of national drug control policy. (4/11)

As drug czar, Marino would oversee the Office of National Drug Control Policy, a branch of the White House that advises the president on drug policy issues. More than anything else, the office sets the tone of an administration's drug policy. Under President Barack Obama, for instance, the office quite publicly retired the phrase “war on drugs,” preferring rhetoric centered more on public health than criminal justice. Whether that approach continues is something of an open question. (Ingraham, 4/12)

Marino is perhaps best known in the drug policy realm for co-sponsoring a bill known as the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act of 2016. Ostensibly, the law was crafted to increase coordination between the DEA, pharmacies, and distributors. But critics argued it effectively limits the DEA’s power by requiring the agency to follow a new process to shut down distribution centers or other parties it suspects are contributing to the illegal sale and use of prescription drugs. (Ross, 4/11)