Tell Us Why

Okay, then. NPR will tell us.

Marino is stepping back days after reports that a bill he sponsored hindered the Drug Enforcement Administration in its fight against the U.S. opioid crisis.

[...]

A joint report by The Washington Post and 60 Minutes found that Marino's bill "helped pump more painkillers into parts of the country that were already in the middle of the opioid crisis," as NPR's Kelly McEvers said earlier this week. The bill had been opposed by the DEA and embraced by companies in the drug industry.

  NPR

I don't get why he pulled out, though. Too sensitive? Because heaven knows the rest of Trump's nominees to agencies they are in complete opposition to didn't say no.

The opioid story was revealed by whistleblower Joe Rannazzisi, a former high-ranking DEA official, who told 60 Minutes, "This is an industry that allowed millions and millions of drugs to go into bad pharmacies and doctors' offices, that distributed them out to people who had no legitimate need for those drugs."

Of Marino's nomination, Rannazzisi said he was in "total disbelief" after the White House announced Trump's pick.

[...]

"As the [the Washington Post and60 Minutes] report notes, one such company shipped 20 million doses of oxycodone and hydrocodone to pharmacies in West Virginia between 2007 and 2012. This included 11 million doses in one small county with only 25,000 people in the southern part of the state: Mingo County. As the number of pills in my state increased, so did the death toll in our communities, including Mingo County."

After Marino's name was withdrawn, [Sen. Joe Machin, D-W.V.] tweeted to Trump, "thanks for recognizing we need a drug czar who has seen the devastating effects of the problem."

No. No, he did not.  He's the one who wanted to put this manin charge.

In the Senate, the bill was sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah — who also saw it through the markup process. In Congress and on Twitter, Hatch has defended his role this week, calling the Post story "flawed" and "one-sided."

Go ahead and say it Orrin: Fake News.

Hatch also said the bill was supported by patient groups who "were concerned about DEA's unfettered enforcement authority."

Patient groups? Only if those patients are exclusively Congress whores.

And yes, folks, Obama signed the bill.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.