U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy published a landmark report on a health crisis affecting every community in our country. Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health is a comprehensive review of the science of substance use, misuse, and disorders. The report is available online at https://addiction.surgeongeneral.gov.
Nearly 21 million people in America have a substance use disorder involving alcohol or drugs, an astonishing figure that is comparable to the number of people in our country with diabetes and higher than the total number of Americans suffering from all cancers combined. But in spite of the massive scope of this problem, only 1 in 10 people with a substance use disorder receives treatment.
The societal cost of alcohol misuse is $249 billion, and for illicit drug use it is $193 billion. What we cannot quantify is the human toll on individuals, families, and communities affected not only by addiction, but also by alcohol and drug-related crime, violence, abuse, and child neglect.