Michael Botticelli, a recovering alcoholic and head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, has a new approach to addiction
People struggling with addiction and those who love them have something to celebrate this year: the appointment of Michael Botticelli as the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). In his previous role as the head of the Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Abuse Services, he was responsible for numerous programs to expand treatment, recovery, and prevention efforts. But perhaps more important, as a recovering alcoholic with more than 25 years of sobriety, he is the first person openly in recovery to hold this position, and he is passionate about a public-health approach to addiction that emphasizes prevention and treatment over incarceration.
Unprecedented personal experience with recovery
In his welcome statement on the ONDCP blog, he wrote: “There are millions of people in recovery in the United States leading meaningful, productive lives full of joy and love and laughter—and I am one of them. . . . By putting faces and voices to the disease of addiction and the promise of recovery, we can lift the curtain of conventional wisdom that continues to keep too many of us hidden and without access to lifesaving treatment.”Susan Lemere is a Solo Mom of two, as well as a therapist, a writer, and an artist coach.
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