The election of the canadian Prime Minister means, not only for that country, but our country as well. That is all tomorrow on the washington journal. See you then. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] the president obama and a form of Prescription Drug abuse. Mac, john mccain and thornberry talk about defense spending. At noon, we will show you the first part of secretary of state Hillary Clinton p appearance before the house benghazi committee. On wednesday, president obama was in charleston, West Virginia for the Panel Description out of discussion on Prescription Drug abuse. Included in the panel were Law Enforcement and health silvioment officials, burwell, and the director of National Drug control policy. This is just over one hour. President obama thank you, everybody. Everybody, please have a seat. Have a seat. Thank you so much. Well, hello, West Virginia [applause] it is great to be back in what is clearly one of the most beautiful states in the United States of america. One of these days, im going to finally try a tudors biscuit. [laughter] i want to begin by thanking jordan for sharing his extraordinary story with us. Jordan is living proof that, when it comes to Substance Abuse, treatment and recovery, those things are possible if we Work Together and if we care about each other. And thats what were here to talk about today. Weve got some outstanding leaders who care deeply about this issue. I want to thank your governor, earl ray tomblin, for being here. [applause] your two fine senators joe manchin and Shelley Moore capito. [applause] and charleston mayor danny jones. [applause] weve also got some outstanding members of my administration who are here first and foremost, our proud daughter of West Virginia, hhs secretary sylvia burwell. [applause] we have the director of National Drug control policy, michael botticelli. [applause] and we have the head of the Drug Enforcement administration, chuck rosenberg. [applause] wheres chuck . Hes around here somewhere. And what i want to do is to have a conversation with the panelists here today, take some questions because this is something that is not a topdown solution type of problem alone. This is going to have to be everybody working together. And weve got to understand what families are going through, what Law Enforcement is going through, what our Health Systems are going through in order for us to wrap our arms around this problem. So instead of giving a long speech, i just want to offer some initial thoughts to frame our discussion. When i came into office, i started studying this issue whats called opioids. And i was stunned by the statistics. More americans now die every year from drug overdoses than they do from Motor Vehicle crashes. More than they do from car accidents. The majority of those overdoses involve legal Prescription Drugs. In 2013 alone, overdoses from prescription pain medications killed more than 16,000 americans. One year. I dont have to tell you, this is a terrible toll. The numbers are big, but behind those numbers are incredible pain for families. And West Virginia understands this better than anybody because this state is home to the highest rate of Overdose Deaths in the nation. Now, addiction is not new. But since 1999, sales of powerful prescription pain medications have skyrocketed by 300 percent. In 2012, 259 million prescriptions were written for these drugs, which is more than enough to give every american adult their own bottle of pills. And as their use has increased, so has the misuse. Some folks are prescribed these medications for good reason but they become addicted because theyre so powerful. At the same time, weve seen a dramatic rise in the use of heroin, which belongs to the same class of drugs as painkillers this class of drugs known as opioids. In fact, four in five heroin users new heroin users started out by misusing Prescription Drugs; then they switched to heroin. So this really is a gateway drug that Prescription Drugs become a gateway to heroin. As a consequence, between 2002 and 2013, the number of heroinrelated deaths in america nearly quadrupled, although the number of heroinrelated overdoses is still far exceeded by the number of legal Prescription Drug overdoses. So this crisis is taking lives. Its destroying families. Its shattering communities all across the country. And thats the thing about Substance Abuse it doesnt discriminate. It touches everybody from celebrities to college students, to soccer moms, to inner city kids. White, black, hispanic, young, old, rich, poor, urban, suburban, men and women. It can happen to a coal miner; it can happen to a construction worker; a cop who is taking a painkiller for a workrelated injury. It could happen to the doctor who writes him the prescription. Now, one of the problems we have is too many families suffer in silence, feeling like they were the only ones struggling to help a loved one. And lets face it, theres still fear and shame and stigma that too often surrounds Substance Abuse and often prevents people from seeking the help that they deserve. Because when people loosely throw around words like junkie, nobody wants to be labeled in that way. And part of our goal here i think today is to replace those words with words like father, or daughter, or son, or friend, or sister. Because then you understand there is a Human Element behind this. This could happen to any of us in any of our families. What if we replaced a word like junkie with recovery coaches and specialists like jordan . We cant fight this epidemic without eliminating stigma. Thats one of the reasons why im so proud of michael, whos the first person in the job of dealing with drugs in america who actually knows what its like to recover from an addiction. He shares his own story as a way to encourage others to get the help that they need before its too late. And im proud that theres some elected officials in this state whove told their stories about what happened in their family and to themselves in order for us to start lowering those attitudes that keep people from getting help. So ive made this a priority for my administration. And were not new to this. In 2010, we released our first National Drug control strategy. We followed that up in 2011 with a Prescription Drug abuse prevention plan. Were implementing those plans. Were partnering with communities to prevent drug use, reduce Overdose Deaths, help people get treatment. And under the Affordable Care act, more health plans have to cover Substance Abuse disorders. The budget that i sent congress would invest in things like state Overdose Prevention programs, preparing more First Responders to save more lives, and expanding medication assisted treatment programs. So we have to make those investments. Rather than spending billions of dollars taxpayer dollars on long prison sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, we could save money and get Better Outcomes by getting treatment to those who need it. [applause] and we could use some of the savings to make sure that Law Enforcement has the resources to go after the hardened criminals who are bringing hard drugs like heroin into our country. So with no other disease do we expect people to wait until theyre a danger to themselves or others to selfdiagnose and seek treatment. Every other disease you got a broken leg, you got diabetes, you got some sort of sickness, we understand that we got to get you help. And we also understand when it comes to other diseases that if we dont give you help, and let you suffer by yourself, then other people could get sick. Well, this is an illness. And we got to treat it, as such. We have to change our mindset. [applause] and this is one of the reasons that the dea declared a national Prescription Drug takeback day a day when americans can safely and conveniently dispose of expired and unwanted Prescription Drugs in their communities. Because most young people who begin misusing Prescription Drugs dont buy them in some dark alley they get them from mom or dads medicine cabinet. And today, were also announcing some new actions. First, were ensuring that federal agencies train federal Health Care Providers who prescribe opioids. This is a commonsense idea that youre already implementing here in West Virginia. Congress should follow that lead and make this a national priority. And we look forward to working with governors and the medical community as well. Second and we were talking joe and i were talking on the flight over here there is evidence that shows that medication assisted treatment, if done properly, in combination with behavioral therapy and other support and counseling and 12step programs and things like that, can work. It can be an effective strategy to support recovery. But it cant just be replacing one drug with another. Its got to be part of a package. So were going to identify any barriers that still exist that are keeping us from creating more of these treatment facilities, and incorporating them into our federal programs. Private sector partners are helping out to help fight this epidemic, as well. And i want to give them some credit. More than 40 medical groups, from the American Medical Association to the American Dental Association are committing to concrete actions. And we need to, obviously, work with the medical community because theyre the front lines on prescribing this stuff and so theres got to be a sense of responsibility and ownership and accountability there. Weve got to expand prescriber training. Increasing the use of naloxone i wanted to make sure i was pronouncing that right, so i talked to the expert naloxone this is something that if First Responders have it can often save quickly the lives of somebody who is having an overdose. So we want to make sure that First Responders have a supply of this. We want to make sure that were getting more physicians certified to provide medication assisted treatment. We then have broadcasters like cbs that are providing airtime for education and awareness. And groups like the nba have committed to running Public Service announcements about drug abuse. So thats just an example of some of the private sector here. The point is and im going to end with this weve all got a role to play. Because young people like jordan, they remind us these are our kids. Its not somebody elses kids; its our kids. Its not somebody elses neighborhood; its our neighborhood. And they deserve every chance. Weve got to make sure that were doing right by them, were taking this seriously. And the goal today is to shine a spotlight on this, and then make sure that we walk away out of here, all of us committed to doing something about it. Whether we are a faith leader, whether we are an elected official, whether were in Law Enforcement, whether were a private citizen, a business, weve all got a role to play. You understand that here in West Virginia, and we want to make sure the whole country understands how urgent this problem is. So with that, im going to turn it over to our moderator, michael botticelli. [applause] mr. Botticelli well, good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for being here today. I, too, want to thank jordan for his really stirring comments. I think it really exemplifies for us the challenges that we have, but also the success and hope that comes with recovery. Its really astounding. Were here in West Virginia today to highlight the issue not just because of the impact that its had on West Virginia, but the impact that its had across the country. But also, West Virginia is working together to implement strategies to really deal with this addiction, and were proud to be here to help support that. The president always gives me a lot of credit for talking openly and honestly about my recovery, but, candidly, im one of millions of americans who are in recovery today and my story is not unique. Maybe this part is a little bit unique, sir. [laughter] but im one of millions of americans who have been restored by getting good care and treatment. And i know the president wants what jordan and i got, and that is a Second Chance to be restored to productive members of our communities and to give back what weve so freely been given. So, thank you, sir. So with that today, we have a great panel of people who are really going to help provide us with information and their insights about what more we can do on the federal level. Im really proud to be a colleague of secretary silvia burwell. And, secretary, im going to start you can feel free to say anything you would like, however. I know were here in your home state of West Virginia. I know we have talked you have been personally impacted by this. But youve also made this a key priority for all of your hhs agencies. So may you could talk a little bit about your experience and what hhs is doing to deal with this issue. Ms. Burwell absolutely. And first, ill just say i love coming home. Its great to be home. And its great to welcome the president to the great state of West Virginia. And when i became secretary, this was a priority because it is something that i have personally experienced. Everybody, im sure, in this room knows people personally friends that lost to the addiction and what happens in terms of their children, in terms of their family, in terms of the community. And what your experience is, personally, i think that is what energizes you to act. And at the department, what we focused on over the last year, figuring out an evidencebased strategy because we want to get results, we want to change the kinds of things that people have experienced personally and three things. Number one is changing prescribing practices. When the president said the 259 million that cant be right. And so how do we work on that. Second is working on medication assisted treatment, getting people the access weve talked about today being so important to people. And third is that access to naloxone. And i look at our colleagues in Law Enforcement because theyre usually the front line and making sure that when something does go wrong, in terms of that overdose, that we can prevent those deaths, those deaths that are so dramatically impacting the state. So those are the three things. Im going to stop because were here to listen today. Thank you, michael. Mr. Botticelli cary dixon, youre a mom of a son who is struggling with in treatment now, unfortunately in prison. But youve turned your struggles into advocacy and action, and you provide support for many, many parents here and around the country for loved ones who are dealing with this. So what has your experience been . What advice do you give parents . What advice do you give us as federal folks about how we can support parents in this battle . Ms. Dixon well, i think initially i want to thank president obama for coming here today to support this cause for our community that has Substance Abuse, its become an epidemic in our community. And i thank you for coming today, first and foremost. And i want to share just briefly ive been charged with being a representative for families around our area and actually around the nation who struggle with this. So if i could just share some comments that we families have in common. President obama you take your time. We want to hear from you. Ms. Dixon thank you. I spoke this morning to a good friend of mine who was just calling me to wish me well today and to encourage me in this endeavor. And this friend of mine lost her daughter two and a half years ago to drugs. And so i dont take this charge of being here lightly. I realize that im here to represent families, and i am grateful for that opportunity. I do want to say that as im speaking to you im sharing my story, but im sharing the stories of so many other Family Members that are in this community and in the nation that have this issue. And also its important to know for the sake of time, ive really tried to make this concise, but this is the tip of the iceberg of what families experience and endure when they love someone and care so much about someone with an addiction. We raise our children in loving homes. We teach them morals and values. We teach them the difference between right and wrong. We wonder what is happening when the grade starts slipping, when things that used to be enjoyable for our loved ones no longer interest them. Were confused as to the cause of the per