use disorder is that they are treated differently because of the stigma that
surrounds it. Our society and culture treat addiction as a crime and a
moral problem, rather than the public health issue that it is. Our jails and
prisons are overrun with those that have committed crimes related to
drugs, and jails have become treatment providers. If the implication is
that substance use disorder is a moral failing, then it implies 70,200
people that died of overdoses in 2017 were all morally flawed. Stigma is
the massive barrier that blocks the way for real policy reform for
effective treatment standards for substance use disorder.
Is Addiction a Disease?
We have decades of research from multiple medical organizations
that has proven time and time again that addiction is a medical condition
and a neurobiological brain disease. It is a chronic medical condition
that is both partly inherited and progressively developed, but the
argument is still alive and well for those that believe substance use
disorder is not a disease. I think a lot of people have a hard time
accepting it as a disease due to the symptoms it exhibits, which are:
continued use of substances regardless of the consequences, stealing,
arrest, loss of jobs, loss of family, loss of money, homelessness, and loss
of health. Initially, the choice to use drugs and/or alcohol is voluntary,
but for those with a propensity of developing an addiction to the
substances they are using, it will progress and no longer be a “choice”