Gil Kerlikowske, head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, toured the Pasadena Recovery Center (PRC) and took part in an on-line chat about teen drug abuse with Dr. Drew Pinsky, the internist and addiction specialist who has filmed three seasons of the VH1 television show "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew" at the Pasadena facility.
Kerlikowske, who has called for an end to the term "War on Drugs," has pushed for drug treatment to be a larger part of the country's drug policy.
"We can't arrest our way out of the situation," Kerlikowske said. "What we're doing now just isn't sustainable."
In the United States, drug and alcohol treatment represent half the cost of incarcerating someone, Kerlikowske said.
His visit came during National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month and is part of his office's nationwide tour to collect input for the 2010 National Drug Control Strategy.
"We've been all over the country," Kerlikowske said. "Part of it is to listen to what people want to tell us about what this country should do about the drug problem."
The co-founders of the PRC were on hand to show Kerlikowske around the facility. Opened 10 years ago, the rehabilitation center has a 98-bed capacity and focuses primarily on treatment for addicts who also have mental health problems.
Though the third season of "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew" is scheduled to air early next year on VH1, Alison Triessl, PRC's co- founder, said the facility accepts patients from both ends of the socio-economic spectrum.
"We treat everyone from Yale to jail," Triessl said.
Pinsky praised the staff of PRC for their dedication to what he called the "costly, time-consuming" process of helping patients get clean.
"It's a conundrum that's nearly impossible to solve, but they manage to do it," Pinsky said.
Pasadena police Chief Bernard Melekian joined Kerlikowske for the tour and called the PRC "an invaluable resource to the law- enforcement community."
Former addicts working at PRC who have completed rehabilitation and maintained their sobriety were also on hand, including 77-year- old Rosa Estrada.
Triessl called Estrada, who helps run the facility's day-to-day operations, "our most treasured and valued employee."
"She's someone who epitomizes what happens when somebody gets their life clean," said Triessl.
