(Pacific Standard) The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy is releasing a document outlining suggested language for government agencies?—?and those they pay?—?to use when referring to people addicted to drugs and alcohol. “Drug abuser,” for example, should be replaced with “person with substance use disorder.” Even the idea of trying to get “clean” is discouraged; patients are instead to be said to be “in recovery.”
The recommendations are aimed at reducing stigma against individuals with addictions, Office of National Drug Control Policy Commissioner Michael Botticelli and public-health professor Howard Koh write in an essay published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
