Top Drug Official To Discuss Opiates In New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The White House's top drug control official is set to visit New Mexico on Thursday for a forum on addressing the opiate crisis. Michael Botticelli, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, is expected to discuss programs aimed at preventing and treating prescription drug addictions during a forum in Albuquerque at 6 p.m. His visit to New Mexico — a state that most recent statistics show has the nation's second highest overdose death rate — comes a day after the Obama administration announced it will spend $17 million to help law enforcement agencies deal with the rise in heroin and opioid addiction. The administration is also seeking $1.1 billion from Congress in funding that would help states expand access to treatment. Under the bill, about $8 million could be appropriated to New Mexico.