Michael Botticelli: Addiction is a disease. We should treat it like one
Michael Botticelli: La adicción es una enfermedad y debemos tratarla como tal
As Director of National Drug Control Policy, Michael Botticelli led the Obama Administration’s drug policy efforts to diminish the consequences of substance use through evidence-based prevention, treatment and recovery support services. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
I was a broken man.
to tell that if you met me.
si me hubieran conocido.
academic institution.
en una universidad reconocida,
riddled with addiction,
para definir mi identidad sexual.
with my own sexuality.
en aquel entonces,
of isolation and insecurities.
de soledad e inseguridad.
my way through college.
mis estudios en la universidad.
in the early 1980s,
del armario en los 80,
to meet other gay people,
gente gay, para socializar,
Mi historia no es única.
my disease progressed undiagnosed.
sin ser diagnosticada.
and places and things
y cosas que nunca hubiera elegido.
an intersection with the law
de recibir atención médica;
has been filled with love and with joy,
llena de amor y alegría,
friends and family to this disease.
y familiares debido a esta enfermedad.
heartbreaking stories
loved ones to addiction.
queridos por esta adicción.
countless friends to HIV and AIDS.
amigos por el VIH y SIDA.
and the AIDS epidemic
de opioides y la de SIDA
of the greatest health crises of our time.
crisis de salud de nuestros tiempos.
with prescription drugs and heroin.
al uso de medicamentos y heroína.
were dying from HIV and AIDS.
moría de VIH y SIDA.
No querían tratamiento.
with our current epidemic.
con la actual epidemia.
the innocent victims from the rest of us.
inocentes del resto de nosotros.
a perder la batalla
blaming us for being sick.
de estar enfermos.
by stigma and fear,
del estigma y del miedo.
research, recovery and treatment.
la recuperación y el tratamiento.
vimos un movimiento social y político.
the LGBT movement.
in a battle for our lives
por nuestras vidas
and we made things happen.
las cosas cambiaran también.
in our lifetime.
en esta generación.
de reconocer que eras homosexual
to their friends, to their families
familiares y colegas.
for the Names Project.
en el Proyecto NAMES
by Cleve Jones in San Francisco
que moría de SIDA
the AIDS memorial quilt
Conmemorativo sobre el SIDA
on a brilliant day in October, 1988.
down the ban on same-sex marriage.
la prohibición del matrimonio homosexual.
to the steps of the Supreme Court
en las escalinatas de la Corte Suprema
with so many other people,
con mucha gente.
how far we came around LGBT rights
llegamos con los derechos LGBT
around issues of addiction.
respecto a las cuestiones de adicción.
by President Obama
and about the fact that I was a gay man.
a mi recuperación y homosexualidad.
my confirmation process --
come to bear on my candidacy
para conseguir el cargo.
del congreso dijo que de ninguna manera
said that there was no way
by the United States Senate
por el Senado de EE. UU.
in recovery for over 20 years,
por más de 20 años,
of knowledge around addiction.
sobre las adicciones.
con problemas de abuso de sustancias
substance use disorders
más cómodo con salir del armario
coming out as a gay man
with a history of addiction.
is affected by addiction.
tienen alguna adicción.
it's not talked about openly and honestly.
de lo que se hable abierta y honestamente;
y recibido con burla y desprecio.
time and time again, on TV, online,
una y otra vez en la tele, en Internet,
and we hear it from family and friends.
nuestros familiares y amigos.
we hear those voices,
escuchamos esas voces
less deserving of care and treatment.
atención médica y tratamiento.
only one in nine people
atención y tratamiento para su trastorno;
recibe atención médica y tratamiento.
get care and treatment.
si tienen diabetes, también.
and you get referred to care.
y les trasladan a cuidados.
have to wait for treatment
la gente con adicciones
o no lo recibe cuando lo necesita.
has significant, dire consequences.
tiene consecuencias terribles y graves
that means death or incarceration.
la muerte o encarcelación.
que el arresto nos sacaba del problema.
out of this problem.
científica muestran
crónica heredada y desarrollada.
and that people develop.
has taken a different tack on drug policy.
en las políticas antidrogas.
a comprehensive plan
e implementado un plan amplio
treatment services,
de prevención y de tratamiento,
y apoyo a la recuperación.
a la gente una segunda oportunidad.
to give people second chances.
officials working hand in hand
y de seguridad pública
guiding people to treatment
en lugar de mandarlos a la cárcel.
and other first responders
y a los servicios de emergencia
to give people a second chance for care.
para darle otra oportunidad a la gente.
is the biggest expansion
es el mayor avance
treatment in a generation,
de sustancias, en una generación,
of treatment services within primary care.
curativo en la atención primaria.
all of this work is not enough.
este trabajo no es suficiente
that we view people with addiction
de ver la dependencia en EE. UU.
understood that I had a problem
comprendí que tenía un problema
I was stupid, that I was weak-willed,
pensar que era estúpido,
because I want to make change.
porque quiero cambiar las cosas.
and candid about who we are
ser abiertos y sinceros
y lo que podemos hacer.
de mi recuperación no para presumir
to change public opinion,
para cambiar la política pública,
and empower the millions of Americans
estadounidenses que luchan
y francos acerca de quiénes son.
about who they are.
to change public opinion
así como la política pública.
who has an addiction,
with addiction in the United States.
a quien tiene dependencia en EE. UU.
someone with an addiction,
a alguien con una adicción,
or an addict or an abuser --
o un adicto o un abusador,
con amabilidad y compasión.
de un movimiento creciente en EE. UU.
in the United States
people with addiction.
a la gente con adicciones.
la política pública.
get care when they need it,
reciba atención cuando la necesita,
cualquier otra enfermedad.
unstoppable movement
a un movimiento creciente e imparable
enter recovery,
comiencen su recuperación,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Michael Botticelli - Drug policy expertAs Director of National Drug Control Policy, Michael Botticelli led the Obama Administration’s drug policy efforts to diminish the consequences of substance use through evidence-based prevention, treatment and recovery support services.
Why you should listen
Michael Botticelli was sworn in as Director of National Drug Control Policy at the White House on February 11, 2015, after being unanimously confirmed by the Senate. He joined the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) as Deputy Director in November 2012 and later served as Acting Director. He is currently the Executive Director of the Grayken Center for Addiction Medicine at Boston Medical Center and also a Distinguished Policy Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.
As Director of National Drug Control Policy, Botticelli led the Obama Administration's drug policy efforts, which are based on a balanced public health and public safety approach. The Administration advanced historic drug policy reforms and innovations in prevention, criminal justice, treatment and recovery.
In response to the national opioid epidemic, Botticelli coordinated actions across the Federal government to reduce prescription drug abuse, heroin use and related overdoses. These include supporting community-based prevention efforts; educating prescribers and the public about preventing prescription drug abuse; expanding use of the life-saving overdose-reversal drug naloxone by law enforcement and other first responders; and increasing access to medication-assisted treatment and recovery support services to help individuals sustain their recovery from opioid use disorders.
Botticelli has more than two decades of experience supporting Americans affected by substance use disorders. Prior to joining ONDCP, he served as Director of the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, where he successfully expanded innovative and nationally recognized prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He also forged strong partnerships with local, state and Federal law enforcement agencies; state and local health and human service agencies; and stakeholder groups to guide and implement evidence-based programs.
Botticelli has served in a variety of leadership roles for the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors. He was a member of the Advisory Committee for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Center for Substance Abuse Prevention and the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. He has also co-authored many peer-reviewed articles that have significantly contributed to the field.
Born in Upstate New York, Botticelli holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Siena College and a Master of Education degree from St. Lawrence University. He is also in long-term recovery from a substance use disorder, celebrating more than 28 years of recovery.
Michael Botticelli | Speaker | TED.com