By J. Alexander Short

Learning about the modern opioid epidemic can be overwhelming, to say the least. When I first began reading and writing about this topic, I had no idea there were linguistic rules. For one, it is substance use, not substance abuse. Additionally, the phrase ‘person with an addiction’ is far preferable to ‘addict’. That makes sense. In fact, whether it should be called the opioid epidemic, the opioid crisis, or something else might change depending on who you talk to. 

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