(Springfield, IL) – While a new, groundbreaking Surgeon General’s report finds alcohol and drug misuse and severe substance use disorders, commonly called addiction, to be one of America’s most pressing public health fights, Illinois is in a full financial retreat from the addiction battlefield.

“It’s time to change how we view addiction,” said U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy on November 17, 2016. “Not as a moral failing but as a chronic illness that must be treated with skill, urgency and compassion. The way we address this crisis is a test for America.”

Nearly 21 million Americans – more than the number of people who have all cancers combined – suffer from substance use disorders. Of those, approximately 845,201 are in Illinois.

The report, Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health, marks the first time a U.S. Surgeon General has dedicated a report to substance misuse and related disorders.

By issuing the first-ever report on addiction, the Surgeon General has lent the weight of “medical opinion” to the classification of substance use disorders as a health care issue, according to a top Illinois behavioral healthcare advocacy group.

“The Office of Surgeon General has for the first time recognized that addiction is a chronic health care issue whose treatment must be addressed on an equal footing with other chronic health care issues, such as diabetes, hypertension, etc.,” said Illinois Association of Behavioral Health CEO Sara Moscato Howe. “Unfortunately, in Illinois, the state’s financial commitment to fight addiction has floundered.”

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