milione: yes. so yountative gowdy: have drug dealers who do not using you have drug addicts who 21 not engaged in title [indiscernible] models ofdifferent drug courts. some you plead guilty and you are sentenced drug court. time in dickens of a south carolina of getting criminal defense attorneys to plead their clients to drug court, even though it was in the eyes of everyone better for their client who happened to be an addict. it is tougher than probation. so the criminal defense attorneys had no interest in that. so how do we devise a plan where youret drug court even if criminal defense attorney doesn't want you to have it? mr. milione: i don't know if i am the right person to answer that. at the federal level, drug courts is not an option. : i want toive gowdy ask you something that might be in your wheelhouse and that would be diversion. you have a background in diversion. mr. milione: yes. representative gowdy: back in the old days, the standard was, prescribed drugs outside of the course of

milione. you are aware of that for my ticket. mr. milione: yes, i am. cartwright: 63% of law enforcement agencies reported heroin is the greatest drug threat. governor charlie barker signed legislation making massachusetts the first state to pass a statewide cap on first-time opioid prescriptions. my question is, with the rising number of opioid debts, what step has dea taken to collaborate with state and local law permit agencies to reduce opioid debts? mr. milione: they have brought together all the different elements, state, federal, local, working with the health community to identify where the hotspots are and do community outreach and also the enforcement on the groups that are trafficking in these substances. : how'sntative cartwright the federal government working to support innovative ideas by the states to combat the opioid epidemic? think thereli: i are a number of ways that we are doing that. looking at funding opportunities to provide states with the opportunities to really strategies.ative one of the things that are office does is really l

milione. you are aware that. >> yes or. >> -- yes sir. >> 63 point 4% of new england law-enforcement agencies reported heroin as their greatest drug threat. just last week, governor charlie barker making massachusetts the first state to pass a statewide cap on first time opioid restrictions. my question is with the rising numbers of opioid gifts, what steps has the dea taken to collaborate with the state and local law enforcement agencies to reduce opioid overdoses and deaths? >> copies meant thank you. -- congressman, thank you. we've got a great relationship with the u.s. attorney's office. they are brought together all of the different elements working with the community to identify with the hotspots are. also do the enforcement on the groups that are trafficking in those substances. >> dr. botticelli, how is the federal government working to encourage innovative ideas by the state to combat the opioid epidemic? >> i think there are a number of ways that we are doing that. looking at fundin

milione, let me start with you. from your testimony regarding the dea's new 360 strategy which you referred to a little while ago it sounds to me like the dea is going to focus less on the mexico-based organizations that are trafficking heroin, and focusing more on the street gangs, that are distributing heroin. is that correct assessment? >> congressman, it's actually -- it's not. it's more nuanced than that. we are never going to go away from our core mission of working up the chain to the cartel leaders in mexico. so the 360 focuses on the link point. the link point, the bridges, the violent distribution cells that are affecting the communities and also the cartels that are flooding the country with the heroin. it absolutely is not one or the other. it's a comprehensive approach. >> so is there a greater emphasis, though, on the distribution side of things now? >> i wouldn't say that there's necessarily a greater emphasis. it's a shift of focus so that we can do everything we can to get the violent distribution c

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agent milione? >> yes, yes. >> all right, back in the old days, the standard was if physicians prescribe drugs outside the course of a medical practice, a professional medical practice, they actually could be prosecuted themselves. >> that's correct. >> there was a dip, it looked to me, in the number of cases that dea was pursuing from a diversion standpoint. was that an optical illusion, or at some point the dea decided to interact more with the pharmaceutical companies and less with the physicians who were actually prescribing the medicine? >> i need to know if you're speaking of criminal cases. i'm not aware of any dip on criminal cases. there's also the administrative actions potentially revoking registration. i'm not aware there was a dip in any criminal numbers as far as a criminal prosecutions. >> would you check that for me? >> be happy to. >> all right. >> what span were you speaking to? >> i've been gone since 2010. >> okay. >> so i know that we did dea diversion cases and we prosecuted do

my lill m milione? >> that's right. >> did you all see, what's his name, el chapo?he said he came across the border. it was like a sieve. that was the major drug dealer, the most sought-after drug dealer, and he transits the border like it's some kind of a holiday visit to the united states. somehow, we've got to get a handle on this. i just looked up the prosecutions. the prosecutions when we looked at the trafficking with illegal weapons, it's down, and prosecution. i talked to my dea folks -- they don't tell you this on the record -- but it's very hard to make cases on these guys. a lot of cases are dropped on the traffickers. these are dealers in debt. you're aware, sir, that we have, again, prosecution, you bill the case, you give them to the district and i'm going to demand a meeting with my u.s. attorney in the central district and see why the prosecutions are down. but they're down, did you see that? >> i've seen sentences have also gone up and we're focused on the -- >> they're telling me it's hard sometimes to make a case. these are murderers, and we can't

milione? >> yeah. >> yes, and a lot of those are illegal weapons. now i'm told i just got this this morning. el chapo, who is coming back and forth, he also one of the weapons he had was traced to the fast and furious. so it was a weapon that was supplied by the united states government, and the principle drug trafficker who is trafficking across the border like a holiday visit, he had one of the fast and furious. are you aware of that? >> i'm aware from the press reports. >> can you confirm that, also, for the committee? >> i wouldn't be in the best position to do that. >> okay. >> it would be another agency. i could take it back to the department. >> i want you to check on it for me and let me know. okay? i'm very pleased with the people out there, but i met with some of your people, and the prosecutions are not what they should be. you know, you go to singapore, and they do not have a treatment program. i want to put you out of business, ms. wen. all the treatment programs. i want to put them out of business because our kids and our adults should