All eyes are on Sen. Jim Merritt (R-IN) after Politico reporter Adam Cancryn tweeted that the Indiana politician is “under consideration for White House drug czar.” President Trump’s initial pick for the job, Rep. Tom Marino (R-PA) withdrew his name from consideration after his history of assisting Big Pharma became public last month.
Indiana state Sen. Jim Merritt — a lead voice on Indy’s opioid efforts — in the running for White House drug czar: https://t.co/8LbZFJFwJJ
— Adam Cancryn (@adamcancryn) November 6, 2017
Marino was pressured to remove himself from consideration after stories broke detailing his support for the pharmaceutical industry and simultaneous curtailing of enforcement efforts against them. The sudden change in plans occurred right before Trump’s promised revelation of his plan to cure the opioid epidemic.
Now, if we’re to believe Jim Merritt’s candidacy claim, the Indiana senator is one of an unknown number of people under consideration for the nation’s top drug job. The next White House drug czar will be tasked with eliminating an opioid problem that has become a bloated and convoluted issue fraught with bureaucratic…