The United States Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, released a comprehensive report on the state of the nation's now widely accepted addiction crisis. The report, "Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General's Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health," is the first of its kind and, as Murthy says, aims to provide “a cultural shift in how we think about addiction.”
It is no longer reasonable for anyone within the addiction treatment arena, nor the public at-large, to label addiction as anything less than a chronic brain disease. As Dr. Murthy points out, addiction must be viewed, “not as a moral failing, but as a chronic illness that must be treated with skill, urgency, and compassion.”
In doing so we must address current ailments within our healthcare system.
