Hundreds Headed to Addiction Seminar in La Quinta

Retired four-star general and former White House drug czar Barry McCaffrey will open a three-day addiction conference in La Quinta Thursday.

Jerry Rhodes, CEO of addiction treatment and behavioral health provider CRC Health Group, will appear with McCaffrey at the West Coast Symposium on Addictive Disorders at La Quinta Resort.

President Bill Clinton named McCaffrey, now 71, the director of the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy in 1996 -- a post he served in until 2001.

More than 700 people from six countries and 38 states are expected at the conference, organizers said. They include physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers and counselors.

McCaffrey and Rhodes will talk about prescription drugs, trends making drugs more available and the importance of a new federal law requiring parity for drug treatment and mental health services, among other topics.

McCaffrey military career included distinguished service in Vietnam, for which he received three Purple Heart medal, and being the commander of the 24th Infantry Division during the Persian Gulf War. He also was a professor of national security the U.S. Military Academy in Westpoint, New York.

Rhodes, who has more than 30 years of experience in health care, joined Bay Area-based CRC Health Group in 2003.

— City News Service.