Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Important perspective

Drug Czar Approaches Challenge From A Different Angle: As A Recovering Alcoholic

By Katie Zezima, Aug. 26, 2014, Washingtonpost.com



LYNN, Mass. — America’s top drug control official had a confession.

Michael Botticelli was seated on a tattered purple couch in an old Victorian here, just outside of Boston. Above his head was a photo of Al Pacino as a drug kingpin in “Scarface,” and gathered around was a group of addicts who live together in the house for help and support. On one door hangs a black mailbox labeled “urine,” where residents must drop samples for drug tests. Botticelli is listening to their stories of addiction and then offered this:

“I have my own criminal record,” he said.

“Woo-hoo!” one man yelled after Botticelli’s declaration. The crowd burst into applause.

The nation’s acting drug czar has a substance abuse problem.

Botticelli, 56, is an alcoholic who has been sober for a quarter century. He quit drinking after a series of events including a drunken-driving accident, waking up handcuffed to a hospital bed and a financial collapse that left him facing eviction.

Decades later, Botticelli is tasked with spearheading the Obama administration’s drug policy, which is largely predicated around the idea of shifting people with addiction into treatment and support programs and away from the criminal justice system.

Botticelli’s life story is the embodiment of the policy choice and one that he credits with saving his own life.

The approach at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy has been, Botticelli said, a “very clear pivot to, kind of, really dealing with this as a public health-related issue of looking at prevention and treatment.” He now heads an office that has shifted away from a “war on drugs” footing to expanding treatment to those already addicted and preventing drug use through education.


Read the full story:  www.washingtonpost.com

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