The new Congress, Kucinich and the ONDCP

Check out this wonderfully fascinating article by Dean Kuipers in the L.A. City Beat: A Change in the Weather. Go and read the whole thing — it’s worth it.
No big surprises, but a lot of interesting material — most of it has to do with the fact that some of the most sympathetic people to drug policy reform in Congress are now in leadership positions, and the ONDCP is no longer going to get a free ride.
It’s not all great —

Sources close to the appointment, who asked not to be named, say that Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of the Democratic leadership have effectively embargoed major crime or drug policy legislation for the next two years, to avoid looking soft on crime in the 2008 election.

Boy, if that doesn’t describe Democrats… For once, I’d like them to understand that the policy of avoiding looking weak, makes them look… weak.
But Kucinich promises to have some fun.

‹We want to explore the federal government‰s policies and the Department of Justice‰s policies on medical marijuana, for example. We need to also look at the drug laws that have brought about mandatory minimum sentences that have put people in jail for long periods of time. […]
‹No, this committee does not have control of the budgets, but it does have control of the policy, and it can ask questions and get documents that others couldn‰t get.Š