Abstract
We are currently in the midst of the biggest drug epidemic our
country has ever witnessed, maybe even in the world. It is now a public
health crisis, and deaths due to drug overdoses have resulted in a
colossal loss of lives, yet our country is still not treating it as the public
health crisis it is. Most people either know of someone who struggles
with addiction (substance use disorder) or have dealt with it personally.
This literature provides information that defines substance use disorder
as a disease. It also takes a look at the current drug epidemic and
overdose death rates in the U.S. The research will provide a comparison
of the drug epidemic to the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and the stigma
that surrounded that disease at the time. The stigma that surrounds
substance abuse disorder and the AIDS epidemic are similar. We cannot
stop a crisis we don’t fully understand, and I hope this sheds some light
of understanding. Ultimately, the goal is to see addiction through a lens
of compassion and break down the stigma.
Keywords: substance use disorder, addiction, overdose, stigma