

Michael Botticelli Is a Drug Czar Who Knows Addiction Firsthand - danso
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/us/michael-botticelli-is-a-drug-czar-who-knows-addiction-firsthand.html

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MichaelGG
> the statute that created his agency, in 1988, specifically forbids the
> office to support legalizing any substance classified in Schedule I by the
> Drug Enforcement Administration

... That's so beyond obviously moronically corrupt I'm not sure what to make
of it.

The idea that police should have naloxone is nice, but why should the police
be responding to such things in the first place? Naloxone should be available
OTC. (Well it should come bundled with OTC opiate packages, but that's
probably hoping for too much.)

The big undercurrent of this article remains the same: using opiates and other
drugs is a problem. I'm also a bit cynical. He appears to have been an
alcoholic, only went to rehab after being arrested. Wanna guess how many
alcoholics there are in government? That occasionally used coke and smoked
some pot?

On the plus side, comparing medication usage to gay rights - well that's super
encouraging.

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InclinedPlane
> _" Wanna guess how many alcoholics there are in government? That
> occasionally used coke and smoked some pot?"_

Screw that, that's an easy bet. A recent President was an alcoholic who had
used pot and almost certainly cocaine.

You want something even more interesting, ask how many folks in government are
_currently_ addicted to prescription opioids, or _currently_ regular users of
cocaine. The effective legality of certain drugs is highly dependent on how
much money you have and the likelihood that you will ever be pulled over by
the cops and an impromptu search of your vehicle conducted, which breaks it
down very much into a class/race issue.

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anigbrowl
This is very encouraging to read about. I hope now that the famously anti-
marijuana Michelle Leonhart is retiring from administering the DEA (arguably
in disgrace) that the President will appoint someone with a more evidence-
based outlook to that position. This article makes me a little more optimistic
in that regard.

