When I read about the United States Drug Czar’s avowal to continue the fight against addiction despite recent laws passed by Washington and Colorado legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes I asked myself – who the heck is our drug czar?
The nation’s drug czar said the legalization of marijuana in Washington state and Colorado won’t change his office’s mission of fighting the country’s drug problem by focusing on addiction treatment that will be available under the federal health overhaul. As reported in www.washingtonpost.com.
Gil Kerlikowske, director of the National Drug Control Policy, has developed a strategy that includes a greater emphasis on using public health tools to battle addiction and diverting non-violent drug offenders into treatment instead of prisons.
Insurance Companies Responsible?
The key to the administration’s efforts to deliver health care to drug addicts is in the federal health care overhaul because it will require insurance companies to cover treatment for substance abuse disorders, as they currently do for chronic diseases like diabetes. That change could lead to addiction treatment for several million more people.
Treatment shouldn’t be a privilege limited to those who can afford it, but it’s a service available to all who need it. Will the insurance lobby be able to overturn this aspect of the legislation?
The strategy outlined by Kerlikowske also supports a greater emphasis on criminal justice reforms that include drug courts and probation programs aimed at reducing incarceration rates. It also will include community-based policing programs designed to break the cycle of drug use, crime and incarceration while steering law enforcement resources to more serious offenses.
I like what I am hearing from our drug czar. It seems like he is the right person for the job. If he can help make insurance companies responsible without raising our rates that would be a super-human job.