Oregon Public Broadcasting

White House Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske is in Oregon this week touring some of Oregon’s drug treatment centers. Ryan Knutson reports.

Kerlikowske is touring the nation gathering input for President Obama’s upcoming National Drug Control Strategy. He’s in Oregon this week learning about how the state handles drug treatment and prevention programs. 

Kerlikowske praised Oregon for its one-of-a-kind prescription requirement for the cold medicine pseudoephedrine, a necessary ingredient for making meth.

Gil Kerlikowske: “No state has had the success in reducing the small labs that Oregon has had, and that’s a credit to the people of Oregon who said, ‘Look, to reduce these meth problems we’ll use other medications or we’ll use a prescription.”

He also highlighted the nonprofit Oregon Partnership, for its crisis hotline and the work it’s done for military veterans.