i am pleased to welcome to the center gil kerlikowske who is the director of the office of national drugontrol policy at

so it is my honor to introduce gil kerlikowske who knows how critical this effort is. he brought 37 years of experience. he has served nine years as the chief of police for seattle, washington and has reduced crime in 40 years. he's been a champion of innovative strategies to reduce crimes, working within communities dealing with the leadership of different communities to ensure that police are work k in partnership with communities to reduce crime. he was elected twice to the major city chiefs which combines the law enforcement in united states and canada. we're very excited to have gil here to talk about new strategy to address this important issue. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. it's nice to see you. it's nice to be here at this center. first let me thank the executive director neera tanden and her staff for making this happen. it's a real good opportunity to talk about this recently released national drug control strategy. well, let me start by sharing a concern that i think many of us in public health and safety community share about drug policy. over the p