Pubdate: Tue, 10 Feb 2015
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2015 Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.utsandiego.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386
Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area.
Author: Matthew Daly, Associated Press

SENATE UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES NEW DRUG CZAR

Botticelli Promotes Treatment Over Arresting Users

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama's nominee to serve as drug 
"czar" won unanimous approval in the Senate Monday as lawmakers vowed 
to curb an epidemic that results in more than 40,000 deaths a year 
from overdoses of prescription painkillers, heroin and other substances.

Senators voted 92-0 to approve Michael Botticelli, who has served as 
acting drug czar since March.

A former head of the Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Abuse 
Services, Botticelli has emphasized prevention and treatment and has 
been in recovery for more than 25 years.

Botticelli, 57, of Malden, Mass., helped launch a program that 
expanded treatment and recovery opportunities at local community 
health centers and has also focused on prevention. He has spoken 
publicly about his struggle with alcohol abuse and 1988 arrest for 
drunken driving, which resulted in his being handcuffed to a hospital bed.

"There are millions of Americans - including myself - who are in 
successful long-term recovery," Botticelli said in a statement after 
the Senate vote. "Our stories can fundamentally change the way our 
nation views people with a substance use disorder, which is a disease 
needing medical treatment like any other disease."

Botticelli, who was deputy director of the White House's Office of 
National Drug Control Policy before being named acting director, 
pledged to continue a "science-based drug policy" that emphasizes 
treatment over arrest. Federal funding for prevention, treatment and 
recovery is at its highest level in more than 12 years.

"There's a large acknowledgment that we can't arrest and incarcerate 
our way out of the problem," Botticelli told The Associated Press last year.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called drug abuse a 
serious problem in his home state and said he looks forward to 
working with Botticelli. About 1,000 Kentucky residents die each year 
by overdosing on drugs - a higher total than the number of traffic 
fatalities in the state, McConnell said.

McConnell said he was pleased that Botticelli has said he will visit 
eastern and northern Kentucky in the next few months to "help ensure 
a continued federal focus on Kentucky's drug problem."

Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., also lamented a nationwide "scourge of 
prescription drug and heroin addiction that is breaking apart 
families and burying communities under a mountain of despair."

Markey called Botticelli a pioneer in public health and drug policy 
and noted that in nearly two decades at the Massachusetts Department 
of Public Health, Botticelli was responsible for numerous programs to 
expand treatment, recovery and prevention efforts.

"Mr. Botticelli's personal life experiences have provided him a 
unique perspective on the epidemic facing our nation," Markey said, 
adding that Botticelli often reminds officials that "there is a 
family, a loved one, a friend or a child behind each statistic" on drug abuse.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom