NEW YORK TIMES: …Mr. Botticelli said he embraced his office’s more traditional charges, like combating the flow of heroin across the United States border with Mexico. (This role explains his round-the-clock protection by United Statesmarshals.) Yet some of his primary objectives do not attempt to stem substance abuse — they accede to its reality.
He wants police officers nationwide to be trained to use naloxone, a nasal spray or injection that can almost instantly resuscitate people who overdose on opiates; better education for prescribers of painkillers and other drugs so that they can recognize signs of abuse or addiction; and the distributionof clean syringes for intravenous drug users to stem the spread of infectious diseases like H.I.V. and hepatitis C.
“Locking people up for minor drug offenses, and especially people with substance-use disorders, is not the answer,” Mr. Botticelli said. “It’s cruel. It’s costly. And it doesn’t make the public any safer.”… (more)
