education. mr. jack riley is he being of the drug enforcement administration. he is the highest ranking special agent in area prior to his appointment special -- special agent in dea. he received a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice and a masters of public policy administration from the university of illinois. angela pochenko. she has tried a number of profile cases. before becoming an attorney, she was a social worker in new mexico. she received a bachelor of arts in social work and her doctorate from the school of law. i would have each of you to summarize your testimony.

without objection, the witnesses'written statement will be accepted in their entirety. you have a light in front of you. i assume that you know what all of that means. mr. vitale, you are first. -- mr. botticelli, you are first. mr. botticelli: thank you all for being here today. the national drug control strategy, the administration's primary blueprint for policy, treat the problem as a public health challenge. the increase in the number of people using her when has come a

significant problem in our country. opiate misuse can have devastating consequences. deaths from using her with increased over the years. as communities struggle with the increased number of overdose deaths and trafficking, it is important to note that the vast overprescribing of prescription drugs is easy access to our jobs. approximate 80 million -- 18 billion -- equal to getting 75 people to every american. four out of five and users of your viewers perception drives nonmedically. -- well heroin is traditionally regarded as an easy to urban areas, we in

of just of care when used. the devices are being seen in urban and america. the recent cdc study shows that heroin or a car highest among males, but it is doubly online women -- among women. alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and significant risk factors for heroin abuse. -- as he used his role to bolster support for substance use treatment and coordinating waters. in 7-eleven, the administration plan to address misuse. this plan contains -- education, increased drug monitoring programs, proper medication will -- disposal. recently, there was a mandated task force, cochaired by the

department of justice to more closely examine the administration's effort and give recommendations and what more we can do. we have seen overdoses leveling

off, but it is coupled with a 39% increase in death.

to address the greatest issue, we have worked to increase access for those first responders. and in and with these efforts, our efforts to promote good samaritan laws, so that a witness to overdoses will help save lives. law enforcement nationwide has risen to the challenge of opiate use. they are working with the public health community. it is important for the medical establishment to work with us to meet challenges of increasing access to treatment to those with disorders. primary care physicians have an opportunity for early intervention and do emergency department to treat substance abuse -- early. it is vital that individuals with opiate use disorders receive care and treatment. medication treatment with fda approved medications with therapy has shown to be the most effective. just this weekend, and -- it was announced that these things will be expanded and $100 million will be helping to fund these initiatives. the unisys has proposed $99 million for treatment and overdose prevention. given the connection between injection of opiates, it is necessary to pass -- is a stark reminder of how these diseases can be spread. public health measures like syringe programs need to be part of this response.

in conclusion we will continue to work with and partners on the public health issues resulting from opiate use. >> mr. riley? mr. riley: members of this subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss heroin and the dea response. our single mission -- he apparently has been part of that focus. 120 americans today will die of overdose from drugs. painkillers cause over half of those. this is a number one problem facing the country. i have been with the dea over 30 years. i have never seen it this bad. in recent years, we have seen an increase in copy cultivation and heroin production in mexico. mexican heroin counts for half of the domestic supply in the

u.s. this is unprecedented, which is why the dea relationship with mexican counterpart is so vital. dea is addressing this by starting the highest levels traffickers and organizations that they run. i have been chasing el chappo guzman for most of my career. this is about -- the relationship between criminal entities can only be described as dangerous and toxic. we have to heroin in places i have never seen it before. they heroin is are more different than it was five years ago. it is cheaper you can be snow and it's snorted, like powder cocaine. unfortunately there is new to the whole heroin addict -- typical heroin. at chart is a source of violence, that it keeps the other night. i know from experience the more that we do to reduce crimes, the more we will do to reduce all crime. we have developed a model of

operation and collaboration i believe is making a difference there and across the country. the chicago strikeforce began with local law enforcement, political leaders, community leaders and prosecutors, coming together to effectively target those trafficking heroin. the number of arrests and convictions have risen. we have dismantle criminal organizations responsible for the division of hundred and thousands of pounds of drugs. we also work at the street level to prevent crime, while at the same time pursuing the investigation into the highest level of cartel leadership. we are actively looking to make this a model across the country. we cannot separate ballots from drugs, we cannot -- we cannot separate violence from drugs, so we have created divergent squad across the country, as part of the commitment to target these drugs. we are taking a to remove unwanted prescription drugs from

medicine cabinet. this is a challenge and a danger to the community. law enforcement is not that you care. not the sole answer. everybody plays a role in this problem, parents, community leaders, educators, faith based organizations, and the medical community. this is a marathon, but together we can produce results that you see and that the american people demand. jefferson -- >> i appreciate the opportunity

to be here today and the to you. for the past 18 months, i have learned about drug overdose deaths. part of that is because of the state child the kiley dean -- fatality team, including narcotics. and with the number of adult overdoses in my city. as a prosecutor, i learned a lot about you -- distribute drugs and possessing drugs. the big difference. for the past 30 years as a prosecutor, i learned about public safety and what victims of crimes and law-abiding citizen and deserve from local law enforcement unit a law-enforcement.

i appreciate the hold that have on people. friends and family that we might have that are addicted. i appreciate the pain they experience for what they go through. i appreciate that very few people who are addicted to drugs or anything, can break the cycle of addiction by themselves. i also know that many of them die alone. i also know that we all want to save lives. users, whether they are incarcerated or not, should have access to affordable treatment. dealers should be incarcerated. store owners should not have merchandise stolen by addicts stealing to support their habit. citizens and should be able to live peacefully in their homes and neighborhoods without dealers servicing clients on

street corners, in parking lots, or in the house next door. they should also not be subject to being in the middle of the crossfire with words breakout -- wars breakout between gangs. we have innocent people being shot and killed in this country because of drug dealers engaging in gunfire. the generation before us did not find a way to stop drug use, i do not think that anybody realistically thinks this generation will do so either. we can all work together to diminish the devastation and impact of the drugs. all of the disciplines involved have to be the table. i am a prosecutor, not a

therapist and i can listen and learn. the comprehensive addiction and recovery act as or -- act, i support. the administration supports it also. the connection between prescription drugs and heroin abuse. substance abuse and mental health go hand-in-hand together. grants for local law enforcement. there are five components that i see, and each one serves a very valid purpose. prevention, intervention, treatment, diversion, and incarceration. thank you. >> good morning members of the committee. thank you for the opportunity to appear today. i'm the elected da for the first

judicial district in new mexico. i am here to talk about hope. as a prosecutor, every day i make dozens of decisions that impact someone's life. i could sit here and tell you all the corners associated with drug use, but as an elected official who is constantly bombarded with the ills of society on a daily basis, would you rather hear about giving someone hope? our community, like so many, have experienced the ravages of heroin addiction for years. every day in the courtroom, we see the same individuals addicted to opiates, day in and day out who are released from custody and told to obey all laws and stay clean with little to no treatment. and of course, in two weeks, when they report to their probation officer, they will be given a urine specimen cup, told

to provide a urine sample, the sample will test positive for opiates, then the person will be arrested, placed in custody, goes back to the court, then is released from custody, told to obey all laws, stay clean, and the cycle continues. we all know that the person is addicted to heroin, of course they will test positive. just because someone tells them or orders them to stop using, do you really think that is going to last very long? anyone that has ever raised children knows firsthand that

you can't make someone do something unless they want to. the definition of insanity is to keep repeating the same mistakes over and over and expect a different result. that is madness. in 2014, santa fe became the first after seattle, to provide programs to drug offenders. a police officer on the streets knows his or her community. who better than a police officer to diverge someone into a program? let me tell you how the program works. a police officer is called to a

local grocery store on a shoplifting call. he encounters mary, unknown heroine addict. he has arrested her several times before. instead of booking and arresting her, he offers her the program. the agreement he makes with mary is that she must complete the program process within 72 hours. if she does, the officer will not file criminal charges on the shoplifting at the grocery store. if she agrees, the officer then contacts a case manager and arranges with the two to meet. the case manager asks mary, what can i do to help you? what to do you need? then the two of them develop an action plan. they start with, what are her basic needs? for example, she may need housing, child care, assistance in filling out a job application, or a ged registration. whatever it takes to get her

life back. remember, mary has been through the system and lost everything due to her addiction to heroin -- friends family and children. this program has a case management community that meets every two weeks to discuss mary's progress. consists of, prosecutors police officers, case managers, and therapist. everyone is given an opportunity to put input on mary's progress. everyone is in agreement that mary will slip and there will be missteps. she has a group of individuals ready to support her. the program is not ready for everyone, but it is a start for a number of reasons. it is about understanding that in opiate addiction is truly a public health issue and not a criminal matter. it is about recognizing that a person with an opiate addiction is a person, not just another statistic, not another criminal

defendant for me to prosecute, but someone whose life does matter. the true focuses of the program is to save money and time. also, but more importantly, the program is about saving lives. it is about empowering the person and giving them hope. >> thank you very much. we will begin questions under the five-minute rule. i will yield myself five minutes to ask those first series of questions.

ms. pacheco, i agree that shoving someone in jail is something that ought to be addressed. can you give me an estimate if the recidivism rate of those who have gone through the lead program and graduated and ended up finding out that it didn't work? ms. pacheco: santa fe's program has been in existence for one year, and as such we don't have the kind of statistical data that seattle does. seattle has shown that in their program, which santa fe is modeled after, that the recidivism -- i want to make sure i have the correct number for you. let me see, i had it marked here. it would be 80% less. >> 80% less recidivism before the program started? ms. pacheco: correct. >> let me say this is probably the most important thing we ought to look at. as demand goes down, the profits that are made by dealers those down as well. we can talk about saving lives

and giving people hope. in my home community in southeastern wisconsin, we have had a rash of overdoses as a result of heroin overdoses. a task force was convened to try to deal with this, both from law enforcement as well as treatment and rehabilitation.

the bill that i introduced with other members of the committee was made at the suggestion of governor walker. what advice would any of you give to the attorney general of wisconsin on how to deal with the task force that he has convened, so that it can be effective? why don't you start mr. botticelli? mr. botticelli: one of the areas you have heard today, and we have been working with many states in response to that -- the overall goal is that this happens to be a comprehensive response. people know that it is a multidimensional problem that needs a multi-pronged approach. prevention, treatment, recovery support services, as well as a role for our local law enforcement. it is not about incarcerating people with addiction, but going after of the supply of drugs that are on the street fueling this epidemic. it needs to be a multi-pronged approach. as you mentioned, local law enforcement people are understanding the fact that they

can't arrest their way out of the problem and that they have a role in terms of reducing overdoses. we have been amazed in terms of the local law enforcement's rise to the call in terms of preventing overdoses. this is really i multidimensional issue that requires a country has a response. as mr. riley talked about, everyone has a role here. public community, faith leaders. bringing evidence about what is effective and limiting those responses. >> i am serving on the governor's heroin and prescription drug task force. one of the good things about how this imitation plan has been working is that there are so many different aspects. we have a pharmacist, mental doctors, mental health treatment providers, law enforcement,

state police, local police, sheriff's, the federal government has representatives. they are all represented there. it has been broken down on a treatment workgroup, law enforcement workgroup, education, and the specifics on disposal of the prescription drugs. that broad-spectrum, and breaking down specific workgroups has produced great results. >> the gentleman from california, ms. chu. ms. chu: ms. pacheco, i am so interested by your program. can you talk about santa fe and what role the community involvement plays in that program, as well as the cost

by implementing the program? ms. pacheco: initially santa fe had a series of meetings by community members for nine months. we had a needs assessment and everyone was involved -- private business, law enforcement, mental health workers. we were able to put together the lead program. it's consists of a consortium of individuals. santa fe police department, santa fe council, the public defender's office. all of us get together. we have combined resources. we have public and private funding. what i would like to say is that it is really wonderful to see how the police officers have responded to this. the police officers on the streets of the ones who originally came to us and said, we need to do something.

we are sick and tired of arresting the same people. we have nothing we can give them. and for us, it has been very gratifying to see the response i the police departments. the other thing that has been very gratifying in reference to the program has been that we have seen many young women with children that we had not anticipated. we are also able to provide i believe a careful balance has to be struck between attacking

prescription drug abuse while not preventing legitimate patients from accessing pain medication. that's why the cosponsor of hr 471, the insuring patient access and drug enforcement asked, which passed the house in april. mr. riley, what steps is the dea doing to ensure that patients are getting legitimate prescriptions for drug abuse? and how do you respond to comments that the dea's actions to stop prescription drug abuse are increasing problems in the heroin abuse problem? mr. riley: i too share the concern on this. we are so concerned about patient access at every step. we want to ensure that legitimate health care providers have access to adequate medication for their patients. one of the biggest ways we are doing that is through our relationship with the industry. there are approximately 1.5 million registrants. by communicating back and forth and making sure they understand what we are seeing across the country in trends of addiction and abuse has brought them in what we strive to do to make them our allies.

access and accessible medication. >> thank you, i yield back. >> the gentleman from virginia. the map paints a distressing picture.

it suggests that cartels have infiltrated the nation to a frightening degree and have partnered with street gangs to peddle drugs. doing tohe dea address that problem? >> that is my primary concern having seen this change. this map would have been vastly different five years ago. heroin, the toxic business relationship in every corner of the country between urban street gangs and mexican cartels is frightening to me, is what keeps me up at night. what we are doing better than ever is connecting the dots. they countyou that on the fact that good guys are not sharing information and we are doing that better.

our ability to attack organizations and their tentacles as they spread across the country has never been better. are these drug trafficking organizations by their nature violent? >> there is no doubt in my mind having done this job for 30 years. i have never seen violence connected to trafficking. >> are these the people you are targeting? >> many are a part of organizations that are extremely violent. >> how many drug possession offenders, meaning those who possess enough for personal use, does the dea refer for federal prosecution? >> in my experience, virtually none. our goal is to attract the highest levels possible so that we can hurt the organization from start to finish. with our limited resources that is the most effective way to make a difference across the country. >> let me ask a similar

question. associated regularly with drug trafficking and distribution? >> yes, i would definitely agree with that statement. we have seen in chesapeake, which is a very safe community, we have shootings which are mainly between gangs who are fighting over for selling drugs -- turf for selling drugs. >> what kind of violence do you see with heroin use and distribution? >> with heroin use it is not so much the violence property crime because they are stealing to support habits. we have seen an increase in prostitution because that is how women are making money to support the habit. as far as distributing the heroin again that would be the gun battles that are on the city streets and in our neighborhoods

that expose innocent people to the gunfire. >> does it extend into gang violence over turf? sales territory? >> yes, we have gangs in all areas of chesapeake. we have 300 square miles and there is a lot of turf to fight over. >> history indexes between heroin trafficking and other criminal acts -- is there a message between heroin trafficking and other criminal acts? >> yes. when you have heroin you will have an increase in prostitution coming into the area and also robbery. we members robbing other gang members. drug dealers rubbing and shooting other gender members. -- gang members. >> is violence associated with drug trafficking and

distribution? >> yes it is and it has become worse. >> what kind of violence do you see in new mexico? >> there have been many shootings. we have had a few executions as a result of trafficking. >> you have the same problem cartels nexus between and gangs? >> we definitely are aware of the fact that because we are a border state, we definitely see heroin coming in from mexico fairly frequently, especially northern new mexico. i could not say specifically which cartel it is associated with, but we definitely see a lot of drugs coming in from the border. >> thank you very much. thank you, mr. chairman. >> the other gentleman from virginia. mr. forbes: when

looking at these programs for recidivism have you done any struggles of faith-based programs that have worked incredibly successfully for stopping recidivism? of you done an analysis of that? those successt rate -- have we looked at those success rates and impediments we are putting in front of them? >> know, this is a new concept and there is not another model to compare it to. mr. forbes: the other thing i would say is this.oftentimes we like to reinvent the wheel but we have had incredibly successful programs around the country that we have put one impediment after another to doing in a complementary role with what you are doing. at some point in time when he did take a look at that and analyze that. let me ask you this question, following on the statement.

testimony that if we looked across the country today gang membership would be the fourth largest in the world -- army of the world. would have had testimony that in some of the most violent gangs, 75% are coming in illegally. they are bypassing any prevention programs. to attract us to find out that the secretary of homeland us toty -- it shocked find out that the secretary of homeland security was not asking people if they are members of gangs before we release them. anything about how important the gangs are in the distribution process? >> i think they have become almost crucial to the mexican cartels. speaking of chicago and the midwest, there are over 150,000 documented street gang members. largely they make their living by putting drugs on the

streets. heroin is the drug of choice. to regulate themselves by the barrel of a gun. normandy in terms of what we are seeing across the country and it is extremely toxic and that is why it is important for law enforcement to be involved. not just what is occurring on the streets. obviously we intervene in violent acts. make sure that the integrity is worked at the highest level so that we can have an impact on the organization itself and the community. >> this committee had worked that under chairman's december -- germans and some burger -- under the old german but he got bogged down in committee. manunder the old chair may but he got bogged down in committee.

.there was anu this investigation by the fbi office . according to court documents obtained by the local news channel it involved 75 kilograms of heroin between 2013 and 2015. put that into perspective that is equivalent to over 2 million doses, enough to give everybody in hampton roads a high off of heroin. say more about those arrests and the level of coordination between local and state and federal government? and were there any barriers that would you would suggest are problematic? >> sure. the recent arrest is a great example of the cooperation that we have in southampton road, in particular betweenproblematic? >> chesapeake and suffolk and the u.s. dea.

we have worked together on many cases and in this case i did not see any obstacles as everybody was fully aware of what was going on and it was very organized as to the execution you did state the amount of heroin. the money that they were making off of it. one thing i would like to point out is that in one of those homes that have a search warrant executed, there were many children in the home. $50,000 was counted every other day in that house because of the and heroin was prepared on the dinner table. , think when we look at that you got to do something. >> my time is expired.

>> the gentleman from south carolina. owdy: i want- mr. g to thank you for your service and to bring to your attention the agents that are a quality -- are a testament to the quality of your agency. i think it takes 28 grams of cocaine base to trigger the mandatory minimum. >> i believe that is true. would be 128f base dosage units. to get five years mandatory minimum imprisoned, you need 112 units of cocaine base or crack cocaine. it takes 500 grams of powder to reach that same five year mandatory minimum which would be about 500 dosage units because

it is about a grammy dosage unit when dealing with powder. no heroin, it takes 100 grams of heroin to reach that same threshold but that is 3000 dosage units. prison foryou go to five years for 28 or 112 units of crack cocaine but 3000 dosage units of heroin is what it takes to trigger that five year mandatory minimum? that just seems absurd to me. clearly, on the law enforcement side, we are cops. we are doing the best that we can with the laws that are out there. >> you are which is why it is important to hear from law enforcement officers one thing we could do was -- enforcement

officers. one thing we could do is equalize mandatory minimum. if you are having a problem with heroin and it takes five that -- 3000 units but only 100 units of crack cocaine, it is pretty easy for me to see one thing that could be done with respect to heroin. everybody in progress does not like mandatory minimums. most law enforcement like them but everybody in congress does not like them. i want to ask you this. how many folks are serving federal prison sentences for simple possession of drugs? >> i can do this for 30 years -- have been doing this for 30 years and i can tell you nobody as a result of my investigations. >> i could find nobody sitting in federal prison for simple possession of a controlled substance. low-level nonviolent drug offenders?

how many of those to do target for investigation when you were ada agent -- a dea agent? >> none. >> they would go to the state prosecutor, right? >> no, sir. we would go after the largest traffickers and the largest organizations. >> this mythology that the federal prisons are full of low-level nonviolent offenders, your statistics do not bear that out, do they? >> of the investigations that i was involved in -- not based off of the investigations that i was involved in. >> i have a college that was a prosecutor in a former life. a very conscientious colleague from the very first day he set foot in congress. he shared to us is concerned about the heroin epidemic. and was asking about

the interconnectivity and relationship between prescription drugs and heroin. who can speak to that on behalf of my colleague mr. kennedy who raises a pretty good question? >> and i think it is a real concern here about as we talked /5ths of newer4 users to heroin started prescriptions. economics and what it costs to buy all the street versus how cheap heroin is, we see the transition. this is where intervention and diminishing the overprescribed medicationn affects the effort. >> i have 25 seconds. drug court. tremendous believer in drug court. heroin is hard to get off of. it was the hardest in my previous job. what do we need to do with heroin to make it where more folks are getting off?

ati just spoke this morning the association of drug court professionals. people who are saving lives by giving people a second chance. by giving them good care and treatment. part of what we know to be effective for people with heroin use is that medications when combined with other therapies become critically important. and the evidence that people with opiate addiction or prescription drug addiction without medication fairly significant portion of the time. so we have actually been working with our treatment programs, with our drug courts, and using our federal resources to support increased access to these medications as a part of a comprehensive strategy in terms of what we know to be the most effective treatment for people with opiate use disorders. >> gentlemen's time has u expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. bishop. mr. bishop: i appreciate your

testimony on this important issue. as a former local prosecutor myself, i have the opportunity to prosecute many drug-related offenses. experience,ou in my i never saw this level of heroin in the marketplace. it is troubling. i have school-age children. and i hear too many stories. it is very disconcerting for a parent. and someone like me who is elected government looking for solutions. and i appreciate your willingness to be a part of the solution making process. i recently met with a group of local law enforcement officers, my local county sheriff's and several others to talk about the issue. our sheriff in livingston county. the statistics that they shared are alarming.

interest anded my piqued to do -- they have my interest and i want to do whatever i can. in livingston county they have 34 heroin overdoses that resulted in death last year alone. in oakland county there used to have between 40 and 45: related overdoses -- 45 heroin related overdoses a year but that has increased to 200 last year. inghamome county, -- county, the other counties i represent that includes lansing, 28 heroin related deaths last year. but as a member that has increased every year, exponentially -- that is a number that has increased every year, exponentially. this is an issue that deserves immediate attention. and i want to thank the chairman of the committee.

and the chairman of the subcommittee for raising the weues and making sure that identify them as primary concerns and that we do whatever we can to address them. director, i would like to start with you if i could. it is clear from what i am hearing in my district that this issue cuts across all kinds of democratic lines -- not democratic, demographic. what are we doing to ensure that the response to this epidemic is comprehensive and holistic? these localing with leaders, local law enforcement? when i was a local prosecutor we had all kinds of collaborative efforts. and i appreciate your comments about drug courts and alternative sentencing. that is available. can you share with us a little more about what you are doing? >> sure.

i think we acknowledge that while we can have a federal response it is really state and local where the rubber meets the road. is the obligation of the office to make sure they have the resources to do the work and identify the issues and work collaboratively. have a number of initiatives. we also support through high intensity drug trafficking areas, counties designated as drug trafficking areas to work with state and local law enforcement to share intelligence and go after cases. many are focused on heroin issues. i will say that many also support prevention and education programs as well so they try to work across the spectrum. also supports what are called drug-free community programs and these are programs and grants to support community-based local programs at the local level.

because every community looks different but every community needs to have all of the key players on board as a part of the solution. so we really had and try to continue to support state and local efforts because we know that we can do as much as we can at the federal level but it requires state and local partnership to really make it real. bishop: you did not make reference to this in your testimony but i wonder if you can share with me. legalization with marijuana at the state and local level, can you tell me how that is influencing this market and if it has led to the increase in heroin in our country?

and if it has shifted the focus away from marijuana and now we are focused now on methamphetamine and heroin and other kinds of drugs? mr. ri i think itley: -- mr. riley: i think it goes to the market genius of the cartels. to have seen the spread of prescription drug abuse and they know that at some point that availability does cease. thus begins that long road to heroin. and we have seen that across the country. it is much as if it was 10 years ago when we were battling methamphetamine. with the help of congress we were able to legislate the primary precursors out of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine. saw a drastic reduction in the amount of domestic laboratories. however, the cartels recognized that there still was a tremendous addiction issue. so what did they do? they were able to produce and if it has shifted the focus away from marijuana and now we are focused now on methamphetamine and heroin and other kinds ofmethamphetamine id that tond provide the areas that were supported domestically. as i look at this problem i think it truly is battling the new face of organized crime.

and i am so glad the committee recognized what has been troubling me for a while is the connection between domestic street gangs and the cartels. it truly is the new face of organized crime as i see it in this country and law enforcement needs to be fluid enough to adapt and attacked that relationship. because by doing that we can solve violence on the street but at the same time attack the organizations that are responsible for all of the drugs. >> the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from ohio. mr. labrador: thank you mr. chairman. i want to thank the witnesses for being here and your important testimony. one area of particular concern that i have and that i would like to address is the expanded population of heroin users. in your written testimony you mentioned that in 2013, 169,000 people over the

age of 12 used heroin for the first time within the past year. with the average range of first-time users at about 25 years old. indicatingted data that heroin initiates as they are called, is 6% were prescription drug users. 86% were prescription drug users. what specifically is being done to address the rise and addiction -- in addiction from prescription drugs? riley: i think what we are doing today is important. awareness is very important. prior to leaving chicago i attended a meeting two years before i departed and there were about 100 concerned people in the room. i attended the same meeting three years later and there were over 2000 people concerned with the heroin issue. unfortunately many of them were parents.

what struck me the most was that many of these parents had no idea that their kids -- and i am talking high school aged kids -- were involved in prescription drug abuse that led to her: and many did not find out -- heroin and many did not find out until they were on the way to the emergency room. this is what we do around the clock and we are doing great work. the awareness of everybody in the community to this issue is really going to strengthen us as we go after these organizations. look across the border, parents and educators and community leaders and faith based practitioners, everybody a role. we cannot do it alone. we need the help of everybody. mr. labrador: i understand that they are receiving prescription drugs through legitimate means.

what does the agency proposed for addressing the fundamental problem of addiction? mr. riley: clearly we are working with a variety of different agencies to try to get the word out. one of the problems we have faced, and again it is an heroinss issue, is that on the street is being smoked and started initially. so initially gone is the fear of aids and hepatitis because of the needle. so we are seeing a lot younger people cry heroin almost as a recreational drug -- writing heroin almost as a recreational drug. statistics show that they eventually go to the needle but i think that is why we are seeing younger and younger at it. -- addicts. from your point, focusing on the prescription drug problem, first and foremost we really need to rein in the overprescribing of pain medication. and our office has

mandated education. we do not want the pendulum to swing the other way and that's why we mark to make sure that every prescriber has minimum education. that about 70% of people that start misusing them are getting them free from friends whyfamily and that is federal and local take back programs to get the drugs out of homes become equally important. promotingso been programs that allow physicians to check databases to see if somebody is going from doctor to doctor and to be able to intervene at that point. we just outlived briefed by the dea in terms of a huge takedown in terms of bad doctors and bad practices in the south. so we know that this needs a holistic response.

>> thank you very much. foralso mentioned the need reform to address low-level nonviolent offenders who end up in jail with a mandatory minimum no method to addressing the problem. i agree that it has wasted valuable resources. in your view, what is the best alternative for addressing addiction given your experience in places where drug addiction is pervasive? pacheco":: you know, i have been doing this for many, many years, sir. it always comes down to resources and money for drug treatments. but we see over and over the same people in and out, in and out without appropriate resources. new mexico as you know is one of the poorer states. do not have the tax base to provide services -- we do not

have the tax base to provide services. we can save money that can go into treatment and wraparound services that many of these individuals need because that is where it is at when somebody who was in the cycle of addiction needs as much support as possible and that is kind of what we are doing. we're transferring resources from the backend to the front end to help them and keep them out of the system. >> the time of the gentleman has expired. this concludes today's urine. -- today's hearing. thanks for attending. fiveembers will have additional days to submit additional questions and materials for the record. without objection, the hearing is adjourned. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> we are going live again to the iowa state fair in des moines. here on c-span, republican candidate lindsey graham just a moment or two away from taking the stage. you see the woman from the "des moines register" introducing senator graham. you will get your chance to win as soon as the senator is done. eigh in open up -- as soon as the senators on. we will never phone lines. -- we will open up the phone lines. >> it is my