This TED Talk features drug policy expert Michael Botticelli

recorded live at TEDx Mid-Atlantic 2016.

28 years ago, I was a broken man. And you probably wouldn't be able to tell that if you met me.

I had a good job at a well-respected academic institutions. I dressed well, of course, but my

insides were rotting away. You see, I grew up in a family riddled with addiction. And as a kid,

I also struggled coming to terms with my own sexuality. And even though I couldn't name it then,

growing up as a gay kid, just compounded my issues of isolation and insecurities. But drinking took all of that away.

Like many, I drank at an early age.

I continued to drink my way through college,

and when I finally did come out in the early 1980s,

about the only places to meet other gay people,

to socialize, to be yourself or gay bars.

And what are you doing, gay bars? You drink. And I did. A lot. My story is not unique. Like millions

of Americans, my disease progressed, undiagnosed. It took me to people and places

and things that I never would have chosen. You know, and it wasn't until an intersection with the law

gave me an opportunity to get care that I began my journey of recovery. And you know, my journey of recovery has been filled with love and with joy, but it hasn't been

without pain.

Like many of you, I've lost too many friends and family to this disease.

I've heard too many heartbreaking stories of people who've lost loved ones to addiction.

And I've also lost countless friends to HIV and AIDS.

You know, our current opioid epidemic and the AIDS epidemic tragically have much in common. Right now,

we are in the midst of one of the greatest health crises of our time. During 2014 alone, 28,000 people died of drug overdoses

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