and, indeed, that is one of pamela hyde's 10 strategic initiatives, is it not? it's very impressive. yes. it's...we have 10 strategic initiatives that are being used to align the agency's resources around the top priorities and the 10th priority is public awareness and support. you know, one of the issues that we haven't included in the whole issue of media is the music industry and its role. ron, what would you say about that? i think the music industry plays a large role in how they can portray addiction and recovery. i listen to some of the music my kids listen to, you know, rap music. some of it's great; i like some of it, but a lot of it the words are horrible. it portrays drug use and sexual abuse. but then, on the other hand, i have great songs that i listen to about recovery, success stories in recovery. aerosmith's amazing; richie supa who wrote amazing also wrote in the rooms who won the prism award in 2009, which is fantastic. there are so many musicians in recovery today. well, nikki sixx; nikki sixx did a whole album, right, mark? absolutely. right.

joining us in our panel today are pamela s. hydestrator, substance abuse and mental health services administration, u.s. department of health and human services, rockville, maryland; dr. a. thomas mclennan, deputy director, white house office of national drug control policy, washington, d.c.; dr. alexandre laudet, addiction and recovery scientist, new york, new york; james smallwood, founder and ceo, the choice is yours, inc., camden, new jersey. pam, how many people in the united states are in recovery? well, the estimates are about 20 million people are in recovery, working on being free of drugs and other-and alcohol. and, alexandre, what is recovery? what are some of the common paths to recovery? well, that's really two different questions. what recovery is, according to people in recovery themselves, is usually, especially for people severely addicted, it is abstinence from drugs and alcohol, as well as significantly-significant improvements in other aspects that constitute quality of life, such as employment, social relationsh

joining us in our panel today are pamela s. hyde, administrator, substance abuse and mental health services administration, u.s. department of health and human services,