Our society's response to the addictions.

Public health and public policy for our society's response to substance use and abuse and addiction should be the logical extension of our knowledge and information about the drugs and our clinical experience with addicted people. The drugs should be seen along a continuum of addicting potential and physical damage and harm to individuals and to society. There should be no distinction between legal and illegal substances when viewing the impact of drug use. Public policy should reflect the fact that nicotine and alcohol should be viewed as dependence-producing drugs. Addictions are all interrelated; people are addicted. Addiction is a public health problem and should be subjected to the same study and treatment as any other. The remedicalization of our response to addiction is bringing physicians into the field of addiction medicine and is strengthening the place of science and clinical observation in the foundations of our public policy.