Black Police Association Writes To Obama To Oppose Ramstad

By Ryan Grim

(The Politico)  A coalition of advocacy and nonprofit organizations, including the National Black Police Association, sent a letter today to President-elect Obama preemptively pushing back against the nomination of Rep. James Ramstad (R-Minn.) to be head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, or "Drug Czar."

Ramstad has not been nominated for the position, but his name has been mentioned in Democratic circles and he has expressed gratification at the prospect of his consideration.

"While we applaud Representative Ramstad for his courageous and steady support for expanding drug treatment access and improving addiction awareness, and honor his own personal and very public triumph over addiction, we have strong reservations about his candidacy for the drug czar position," reads the letter.

The coalition, which includes civic and drug-policy reform organizations, cites his past opposition to medical marijuana, needle exchange and sentencing reform as reasons for concern. The letter after the jump...

Disclosure: This Crypter worked in the past for an organization, the Marijuana Policy Project, that advocated for the legalization of marijuana. That group did not sign the letter.
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