U.S. director of drug control policy discusses drug addiction while in Cape

As the nation’s director of drug control policy, James Carroll says “one thing is clear” when it comes to dealing with what he describes as the nation’s “unprecedented crisis” of drug addiction.

“We’re not going to solve this in Washington, D.C.,” he said Wednesday morning as he and other state and federal officials met with staff and clients of the Gibson Recovery Center in Cape Girardeau.

Carroll also met Wednesday afternoon with Gov. Michael Parson and 8th District U.S. Rep. Jason Smith on the Southeast Missouri State University campus. Parson, Smith and Carroll hosted an hourlong closed-door discussion about the impact of drug addiction with several community leaders and representatives of area law enforcement and mental health agencies.

Parson and Smith said they were grateful Carroll chose to visit Southeast Missouri to learn more about drug addiction issues in this region and listen to community ideas about how to deal with them.

Often referred to as the nation’s “drug czar,” Carroll and his staff advise President Donald Trump on matters related to the enforcement of drug laws and addiction treatment policies. In January, Carroll’s office produced a 90-page “Rural Community Action Guide” focusing on the impact of drug abuse on rural America.

Gov. Michael Parson, left, speaks after participating in a roundtable discussion about drug policy Wednesday at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau.TYLER GRAEF

More than 70,000 Americans, or nearly 200 people a day, died due to a drug overdose in 2017, according to the report. Beyond health implications and fatality statistics, the White House Council of Economic Advisors estimates the annual impact of the opioid crisis on the U.S. economy is more than $500 billion, which includes, among other things, lost productivity and the expense of providing addiction services.

“While no corner of our country has escaped the devastation of this crisis, rural America has been particularly hard hit,” he said, in reference to drug addiction. “I have seen firsthand the impact that addiction is having on small towns and rural places across our country.”

Communities such as Cape Girardeau, he said, are where the battle is being fought every day, and specifically at treatment facilities such as the Gibson Recovery Center.

Carroll toured the residential treatment facility along with his senior adviser for rural affairs, Anne Hazlett, and Dr. Mark Stringer, director of the Missouri Department of Mental Health, before speaking to several Gibson staff members and clients.

“I appreciate the opportunity to come and see what you’re doing,” Carroll told the group, adding, “you are not alone; there are so many people who support you.”

Kathy Lagenfeld holds up a sign to the departing motorcade after Gov. Michael Parson and other officials participated in a roundtable discussion about drug policy Wednesday at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau.TYLER GRAEF

Speaking from a podium, Carroll talked about the overall impact of drug addiction on American society and his oversight responsibility for $36 billion the nation spends annually in various drug-abuse prevention, treatment and law enforcement activities.

Five minutes into his remarks, he paused.

“Can I do anything I want?” he asked Gibson executive director John Gary, who was seated in the audience. “Can I just sit down and can we just talk?”

For the next half hour, Carroll spoke with staff members and Gibson Center clients, learning about the facility’s medication-assisted treatment protocols and peer-counseling support services.

“I can truly say, if it wasn’t for these people in my life, I would have died from addiction,” a current client, “Robert,” told the drug policy director. “Today, I’ve been almost two weeks clean. They’ve given me an opportunity to save my life.”

Carroll said visits to facilities such as the Gibson Center are giving him and his staff a better insight into what’s happening on the “front lines” of the nation’s war on drugs.

“When I’m traveling the country, I want to be able to say, ‘Hey, I went to this facility in Cape and this is what they’re doing,’” he said as he left the Gibson Center. “This place is working, so I want to do everything in our power to get them the help and resources they need.”