The U.S. Surgeon General's new report, "Facing Addiction in America," is the first time the office has explicitly addressed addiction to illicit drugs. With the epidemic of addiction to drugs from Vicodin to heroin raging across the country, the report is timely.
But although the report provides a solid summary of established findings, the Surgeon General perpetuates key misconceptions that have come to dominate the field of addiction. These views, frequently repeated but infrequently scrutinized, bear critical implications for how we treat addiction.
