Words Matter – Terms to Use and Avoid When Talking About Addiction

The National Institute on Drug Abuse provides background information and resources to better understand and reduce stigma. The page includes links to preferred language for talking about addiction as well as language showing compassion for women, infants, families and communities impacted by substance use disorders.

Confronting the Stigma of Opioid Use Disorder—and Its Treatment

The JAMA Network

AMA Substance Use and Pain Care Task Force

The AMA Substance Use and Pain Care Task Force urges physicians and other health care professions to continue taking action to help reverse the nation’s drug overdose epidemic—and the Task Force also calls on policymakers to take specific steps to remove barriers to evidence-based care for patients with pain and those with a substance use disorder.

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