- Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is calling upon the federal government to elevate the director of the Office of the National Drug Control Policy position to cabinet-level
- In 2009, while President Joe Biden served as Vice President to Barack Obama, the position was removed from a cabinet-level position to become one filled via presidential appointment
- Moody claims that the position’s departure from the presidential Cabinet has left a gap in coordinating policies for drug control
- Moody has expressed dissatisfaction with the federal government’s apparent lack of intervention in the ongoing issue, urging that if direct action does not occur, Biden should grant authorization for a drug czar to take necessary steps to quell rising fatalities
State Attorney General Ashley Moody called upon the federal government Monday to elevate the director of the Office of the National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) position, known as the drug czar, to a cabinet-level role.
In 2009, while President Joe Biden served as Vice President to Barack Obama, the position was removed from a cabinet-level position to become one filled via presidential appointment. Amid a worsening opioid crisis in the nation as a whole, Moody is requesting that Biden reverse the decision.
Moody claims that the position’s departure from the presidential Cabinet has left a gap in coordinating policies for drug control.
A new report published this month by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) highlighted a ten percent increase in drug overdose deaths in 2021, with spikes in fentanyl and benzodiazepines usage.
According to the report, toxicological findings indicate that drugs were present at the time of death in 16,138 of the 36,523 fatalities that medical examiners investigated.
FDLE reports 8,411 opioid‐related deaths, an increase of 569 deaths, or seven percent, compared to 2020.
Moody further claims that the rising death toll can be attributed to illicit fentanyl manufactured in either China, or with chemicals from China, and smuggled across the United States southwest border by drug cartels.
The state has expressed dissatisfaction with the federal government’s apparent lack of intervention in the ongoing issue, with Moody urging that if direct action does not occur, Biden should grant authorization for a drug czar to take necessary steps to quell rising fatalities.
“In your recent meeting with Xi Jinping, you failed to discuss fentanyl or China’s role in supplying Mexican drug cartels with the precursors of fentanyl that is flooding our border and killing record numbers of Americans,” said Moody. “If you continue to refuse to address this issue on an international level—where certainly ground could be gained—at least step aside and allow a qualified drug czar the authority to act in the best interests of Americans at home.”
The ending of Title 42 — a public health order that allowed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to quickly expel migrants at the border due to health concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic — is also a cause for concern, per Moody.
Lawmakers across the country have expressed concern that the importation of counterfeit drugs will be exacerbated by Title 42’s expiration — with Moody claiming that it will provide cover for more drugs to enter the country.
Florida leaders across both political parties, including Sen. Marco Rubio, Val Demings, Sen. Rick Scott, and Gov. Ron DeSantis, collectively lambasted the incoming expiration of the order, citing concerns over potential migrant crises.
“By re-establishing the ONDCP director as a cabinet-level position, you can bring more accountability and flexibility to an office that could be better used to stop the influx of deadly fentanyl across the southwest border. It will also elevate the drug czar to a position more suitable to serve as a check on the terrible immigration policies perpetuating this crisis.”
Moody has been at the forefront of the efforts aiming to combat the flow of drugs into the country. In September she headed a bipartisan coalition of 18 state Attorneys General to request a federal declaration of fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction.
Should the substance be granted the classification, it would require federal departments like the Department of Homeland Security, Justice Department, and Pentagon to work in tandem to combat the opioid crisis, presumptuously expediting the response.
Aren’t Republicans supposed to be calling for less and smaller government?