doi:10.7916/t83n-pq24Oral history interview with Michael Botticelli, 2020Botticelli, Michael, 1958-oral historiesmixed materialPresidents--United StatesDrug addiction--Alternative treatment--United StatesDrug addiction--Treatment--United StatesOpioid abuse--United StatesPublic health--United StatesBotticelli, Michael, 1958-Obama, BarackUnited States. Office of National Drug Control PolicyMichael Botticelli discusses his service in the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) from 2012 to 2017 during the presidency of Barack Obama. Botticelli focuses on the shift in national strategy with a new emphasis on addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery, and under which addiction is treated as a public health issue, rather than a criminal justice issue. Botticelli describes the relationship between ONDCP and other relevant federal agencies, and outlines the process by which ONDCP both supports and borrows from policies developed by local governments. Reflecting on the administration's response to the opioid epidemic, Botticelli emphasizes the impact of President Obama and his cabinet secretaries speaking directly about the epidemic and addiction and recovery initiatives in their public communications and meetings with affected families. Also discussed are the importance of Botticelli's lived experience as a person in recovery to the making of national policy and the reduction of popular stigma surrounding addiction, the importance of the language used to describe addiction, and the challenge of collecting accurate and timely data about the ongoing course of the opioid epidemic