In November 2016, the Office of the Surgeon General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a report on the prevention, treatment and recovery of substance misuse and substance use disorders. The report, titled Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health, provides a comprehensive look at these critical issues affecting the lives of millions of people, their families and their communities. The report explores the neurobiology of substance use, misuse and addiction, and it summarizes proven approaches about what works in prevention, treatment and recovery – with the goal of helping health care providers, policy makers, law enforcement, educators, families and communities understand ways to address this growing epidemic.
One of the points stressed in the report is the need for people to understand that addiction to alcohol, prescription drugs and illicit substances is a health condition as opposed to a moral failing or character flaw. An important aspect of this is using person-first, non-shaming language that underscores the medical nature of addiction – for example, talking about “people who have substance use disorders” rather than describing them as “abusers” or “addicts.”
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