Summary/Abstract

 U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy delivers a promise of the end to moralism for persons suffering from addictive disorders at UNITE to Face Addiction Rally in Washington DC

Content

“I am here to tell you that we are going to stop treating addiction as a moral failing and start treating it for what it is: a chronic illness that must be treated with urgency and compassion,” he said. “We’re also not going to hide from this issue because its hard for some people to talk about, because we know there was a time in this country when it was hard to talk about tobacco, AIDS and mental health. But we weren’t fortunate to have a leader who was bold enough to stand up and say that it’s time for us to have a conversation in this country based on facts, medicine and science.” U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy