mr. botticelli thank you for inviting me back to discuss issues of synthetic drugs. they're all a tremendous concern of the administration. i focused my opening remarks on new psychoactive substances. there sometimes known as designer drugs or legal high. they are designed to mimic the effects of illegal drugs. in december 2015 the united nations estimated there are over 600 on the global market. the vast majority of these not controlled under drug control authorities. there often mixed with material to form a dangerous package in alluring packaging. those products can very from batch to batch. they have no known medical use in many pose a serious threat to public health. i appreciate that he is here from iowa to talk about his son's tragic death associated with this use. there are many young people who are a testament to the deadly effect these synthetic drugs are having on our community. although they have developed responses to control this, the ease in which it can be manufactured makes controls challenging. according to the dea, nearly all are manufactured in ch

mr. botticelli: thank you for inviting me back to discuss issues related to synthetic drugs. although all synthetic drugs, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cannabinoids, are a concern of the administration i will focus on new psychoactive substances. there known as designer drugs or legal highs. they are designed to mimic these effects of controlled substances and circumvent controls. in 2015, the united nations estimated there were over 600 identified nps on the mobile market. the vast majority are not controlled under un drug treaties or authorities. nps are often mixed with material to form a dangerous final package in alluring packaging. the composition could vary from batch to batch. they have no known medical use, and many pose a serious threat to public health, including addiction and life-threatening medical consequences. i appreciate that they are here from iowa talk about david's death associated with the use of a synthetic cannabinoid. there are many young people who are testament to the deadly impact nps are having on our communities. although the un, the federal go

mr. botticelli, you have been very articulate and an eloquent spokesman on behalf of the measures necessary to change our culture and prescribing practices which are often the way the demand for those substances are created as you know, because you visited connecticut and i thank you for coming to visit. i have done a series of round tables, 13 around the state and produce a report that makes recommendations. 23 recommendations for changes in law and practice among them changes in the prescribed practices of doctors. more training, education, so that powerful pain killers, opioid substances that often lead to addiction, are reduced. my question to you is what can be done to change the culture and training we give to our prescribing physicians so they are unaware of the unintended consequen consequences. these prescriptions are usually done with the most intentions but i know perk set and oxycotin and others can be obtained easily and be addictive. >> thank you. your innovation happening in connecticut is really important. thank you. you know the root cause of the opioid epidemic starts from

mr. botticelli: we are supportive of looking at legislation to broaden prosecutors's authority. the way these drugs are marketed , the way they are sold, how they react, how their brain reacts, proven indicators of how these substances are intended for human consumption. any enhanced tools we could give prosecutors to go after this would become an incredibly important vehicle. carrying the drug court funding for treatment. our state has landed many treatment centers. it really bugs me when we cannot even go after the bad guys getting people on this drug. that is why we want to close the loophole. as you know,erg: makes it challenging for us to work our way up the supply chain. the suppliers become more insulated from the folks who are actually doing the dealing, it becomes challenging to obtain evidence. the department has been working with your staff and wants to keep working with your staff to find ways to improve how we are going to prove that element. mr. hartunian: our prosecutions in this area are relatively new. the have come on in the last five or six years. we did our f

mr. botticelli, please? >> thank you for inviting me back to discuss issues related to synthetic drugs.hough all synthetics drugs, met amphetamine, fentanyl, and opioids are of great concern to the administration, i'll focus on -- they are designed to mimic the effects of controlled substances. in december 2015, the united nations estimated that there were over 600 identified nps on the global market. the vast majority of these not controlled under u.n. drug treaties or domestic drug control authorities. they are often mixed with material to form a dangerous final package and final product in alluring packaging. the potency and composition can vary from batch to batch. many pose a serious threat to public health, including addiction and life-threatening medical consequences. i appreciate that mr. mike rozga is here today from iowa to talk about his son david's tragic death associated with the use of a synthetic. there are also many young people that are a testament to the deadly impact that nps is having on our families and communities. although the u.n., the federal government, and all

mr. botticelli said he thought this was a good bill, it was important to be comprehensive. he also went to new hampshire for a hearing and said he supported the legislation in front of senator shaheen and senator ayotte. he was supposed to come to ohio but at the last minute decided that he could not attend our hearing in ohio. i'm told yesterday he held a press briefing with ohio reporters. i've been trying to reach him today unsuccessfully but apparently he thought it was necessary to go to ohio reporters to talk about this issue. among those on the call, by the way, was at least one democratic local official. maybe a few. i'm not sure because i wasn't told about the call to ohio. i'm from ohio. i'm the coauthor of the bill. in that call, he said things that led the reporters to believe that he thought cara did not go far enough, that it wasn't the appropriate response to this epidemic. now, look, i understand there is an election every two years here in america, and that's fine. but i have known every single drug czar since the first one, bill bennett. all of them. i hav