U.S. Surgeon GeneralVerified account

Labeling people with substance use disorder as "addicts" is stigmatizing and counter productive

You should start by not calling him an addict and say a person with substance use disorder. #stopthestigma

You are right - I want to let you know that live tweet was incorrectly transcribed and for that I apologize. I would NEVER use language that may contribute to stigma. Addiction is a chronic disease and NOT a moral failing.

Hey brother I am so happy to hear you telling your personal story and it is an amazing one to tell but please when referring to us that suffer from addiction with non stigmatizing language such as “person with a substance use disorder “ or a person that suffers from addiction “

You are right and I want to let you know that tweet was incorrectly transcribed and for that I apologize. I would NEVER use language that may contribute to stigma. Addiction is a chronic disease and NOT a moral failing.

Hi Brian, I want to let you know that tweet was incorrectly transcribed and for that I apologize. I would NEVER use language that may contribute to stigma. Addiction is a chronic disease & NOT a moral failing. Check out my IG live to see the full speech.

Um, you might want to use the medical term then, substance use disorder, instead of continuing to shame "addicts". You're the Surgeon General.

You are absolutely right - I want to let you know that live tweet was incorrectly transcribed and for that I apologize. I would NEVER use language that may contribute to stigma. Addiction is a chronic disease and NOT a moral failing.