For the past 20 years, Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, R-Bucks, has been a vocal advocate for drug and alcohol rehabilitation in Pennsylvania. And he’s been pushing the public and lawmakers to stop looking at addiction as a crime.
“Addiction has to be looked at like a disease and it is, like other diseases, highly treatable, and treatment works,” he said.
DiGirolamo got some support from the federal government this month in the form of U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s first-of-its-kind report, “Facing Addiction in America, Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs and Health.” Its significance and scope is being compared to the 1964 surgeon general report on smoking. That report led to America’s acceptance of the link between smoking and cancer. This report reframes the addiction epidemic as a public health concern.
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