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Acting Director Botticelli Addresses OAS Anti-Drug Group

Summary: 
On May 1, ONDCP Acting Director Michael Botticelli spoke at the 55th regular session of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) in Washington, D.C.
On May 1, ONDCP Acting Director Michael Botticelli spoke at the 55th regular session of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) in Washington, D.C. The 34 Member Nations from the Organization of American States (OAS) gathered to discuss an array of public health and drug policy issues, including drug courts and other alternatives to incarceration and the growing challenge of local distribution of drugs within Latin America, a practice known as “micro-trafficking” in Colombia, which is serving as the CICAD Chair.
 
Dr. Wilson Compton, Deputy Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, joined Acting Director Botticelli on a panel to discuss “Health Issues and Policies related to Cannabis.” Acting Director Botticelli discussed the disease of addiction, the expanding access to drug treatment under the Affordable Care Act, and Federal monitoring of state marijuana laws in Colorado and Washington.  His remarks were followed by Dr. Compton’s detailed presentation on the current scientific understanding of marijuana’s short- and long-term effects on the brain and body.