[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/29/am.intv.gil.drug.czar.art.jpg
caption="Kerlikowske says drugs that come out of parents’ medicine cabinets are just as deadly as other drugs."]
Michael Jackson’s alleged addiction to prescription drugs has been part of the ongoing investigation into his death. Dr. Conrad Murray is said to have given Jackson the powerful anesthetic Propofol to help him sleep. Police believe that drug may have contributed to his death.
Director of the office of national drug control policy at the White House, R. Gil Kerlikowske spoke with CNN’s John Roberts Wednesday
John Roberts: I wanted to ask this, not as a law enforcement question but from a substance abuse perspective which falls into your arena. To use the drug Propofol, which is used either as a sedative for surgery or a general anesthetic, to use it as a sleeping medication would that constitute the abuse of that drug?
Director R. Gil Kerlikowske: You know I’m not an M.D. I can tell you the prescription drug issue is really significant throughout the United States. And of course, we've seen that in paper after paper after paper. I don't have the facts about the Michael Jackson case, the very sad and tragic loss that occurred there, but I can tell you that prescription drug problems are a problem in this country.
Roberts: The police and drug enforcement administration are looking to whether or not he used aliases to try to get drugs, whether he was doctor shopping. We hear about people doctor shopping and prescription drug abuse. How did it get so bad in this country?
Kerlikowske: I think it got so bad because we didn't raise the alarm. It's been bad for a while. If you look, the most recent data, which unfortunately is 2006, tells us that more people have died from overdoses than have died from gunshot wounds in this country. And frankly, this is something that in many ways can be prevented.
Roberts: So, when you talk about prevention, you talk about trying to curb demand and education from that standpoint. And then there's also enforcement. How do you effectively enforce something like this? You take a look at the fact that more than 56 million prescriptions were written for sleeping medication in 2008 alone, that's up 54% since 2004.
Kerlikowske: Well, there are two things. One is that 38 states have prescription drug monitoring programs. These are electronic databases and they help health officials and in some cases depending on how the law is written, law enforcement. And they can look at over-prescribing by a physician but they can also look at patients who are, as you mentioned, doctor shopping. The other thing, of course, is that a lot of this comes out of parents' medicine cabinets.
Parents can do an awful lot. We have a website, http://www.Theanti-drug.Com. Parents can get a huge amount of information. We've seen significant problems with kids that have experimented thinking that, ‘hey, these are prescription drugs, these are safe,’ and, in fact, they are just as deadly and just as addictive as anything that comes from anyplace else.
Roberts: You came to this job from your former job. You were the police chief of Seattle. Was it possible in Seattle to effectively police this?
Kerlikowske: It's a very difficult thing to police but I think the prevention piece is by far one of the most important parts and that parents can do an awful lot. These prescription drug monitoring programs in Washington state, where I just left, is under way. Those are great programs to help law enforcement and officials to deal with the problem.
Roberts: The two things that go hand in hand, too, prevention and treatment. You're there in Mexico City and the Mexican government has undertaken a pilot program to establish drug courts for those found guilty of committing crimes while under the influence of drugs may not be sentenced to jail, rather they may be put into treatment programs. There's a rising call in this country for something similar. Rather than put these drug offenders in jail, put them in treatment programs. Do you think the Mexican model is something that could be repeated effectively here?
Kerlikowske: I think that the drug courts are incredibly positive turn for the Mexican government. They're undergoing tremendous stress. President Calderon, without question…is by far one of the most courageous leaders in the free world to take this on. The balanced approach that they're using, which is tough law enforcement on the traffickers and seizures, but also treatment. And drug courts came from the United States. We've actually been assisting the government of Mexico with this. They're 20 years old. They're over 2,000 drug courts in the United States and I think they've been proven effective.
Roberts: But, again, there are people who say we're putting too many drug offenders in jail that we need to reach out more to the treatment side of things. Do we need to do a better job of that in this country?
Kerlikowske: I do. I do. And the United States it's without question, a more balanced approach, a focus on prevention and a focus on treatment. You know, treatment works. And the Obama administration recognizes that addiction is a disease. It’s a disease, like a lot of other diseases. It isn’t a moral failure of somebody. There are treatments for it. We have seen, I have met personally now in 2 1/2 months, dozens of people who have successfully been through treatment, successfully turned their lives around. You know, they’re back in their neighborhoods, they’re working, they’re productive and paying taxes. It's a wonderful thing.