the acting director michael botticelli of the national drug control policy office. too many of our states are facing a growing tide of opiate overdoses. drug use ingle with our various communities. we thank the acting director for making the lieutenant governors one of the first groups he is speaking with in his new role at the helm of this office. willie forward to hearing your thoughts on how to address these issues. these join me in welcoming acting director. [applause] >> but i really want to thank you for having opportunity to come and talk with you. i have not been in a state or community over the past time that i have been doing this work that hasn't been impacted by significant drug-related issues. one of the things that we talk about is just kind of scratching the surface of any major issue that you have in your state, whether it is child welfare, whether it is medicaid, whether it is correction cost. you will find that drug issues are beneath that. it is an issue that i think we all have interest in today. you

the acting director of the white house drug policy office michael botticelli testified before house panel about drug use and public health. >> the subcommittee will come to order. i want to welcome our witness acting director botticelli. this is the first time he has appeared before the appropriations committee and i appreciate you coming here to testify. thank you for your service. the office of national drug control policy is charged with the extremely difficult task of coordinating also both federal agencies efforts to address many different drug-related issues at home and abroad. in addition you administer some of the very effective drug invention and enforcement grant programs and today the committee will examine the office of national drug control policies in fiscal year 2015 budget request along with your efforts to develop and coordinate our nation's drug policies. the budget request submitted by the president has interesting priorities within the subcommittee's jurisdiction. while the best ration is requesting an increase of over $1 billion for the iraq's an increase of over $500

. >> chairman crenshaw and members of the subcommittee, as indicated my name is michael botbo botticelli, i'm here to discuss the 2015 budget request for ondcp. it was created by statute in 1988 and in november of 2013 marked our office's 25th anniversary. on d.c. p has directives for the drug program to coordinate the federal government's efforts to reduce illicit drug use and including drug manufacturing and trafficking, drug related crime and violence and drug related health consequences. to achieve these goals, they are charged with producing the administration's national drug control strategy and ensuring executive branch agency control supports the strategy. the administration strategy first released in 2010 is based upon input from public health and public safety professionals across the country and on decades of research from the top si scientists, one that can be prevented and treated and from which one with recover. they also have responsibility for working with our national and international partners to develop the national southwest border counternarcotics strategy, the north