A Sunday New York Times article profiled United States “drug czar” Michael Botticelli, of Malden, and retold a story of the fateful night on the Massachusetts Turnpike that led to him confronting his own addiction.

Botticelli, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, is the first person to hold the position who is in substance-abuse recovery, according to the Times. His appointment by President Barack Obama this past February was notable for the fact that he has a background in treatment and recovery rather than policing or politics, as the article points out. Before the appointment, Botticelli served as director of the Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Abuse Services.

But another Massachusetts connection stands out—his 1988 arrest for driving drunk on the Mass. Pike. After causing an accident and passing out, Botticelli awoke handcuffed to a hospital bed. After spending four months in a court-ordered alcohol abuse treatment program, he started work at a substance-abuse center, setting him on a path that led him to where he is today, according to the Times. Article Link…