Drug abuse is a 'health problem, not a criminal one'

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by Change | 16 Jul 2010

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The US government is changing how it views drug abuse.

The Obama administration has made a shift in the way it deals with cases of drug abuse, treating addiction as a health issue rather than just a criminal one.

That is according to the US president's chief advisor on national drug policy, Richard Gil Kerlikowske, the Washington Informer reports.

The director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy was quoted as saying: "Drugs are a public health problem as much as a public safety issue. Addiction is a disease and this disease can be treated."

As well as playing down the 'war on drugs', he said that the president also intends to increase funding for drug addiction support programs across the nation.

Mr Kerlikowske also suggested that black medical schools tended to be better at treating drug addicts than their counterparts.

The Washington Informer cited statistics suggesting that 19.5 million people over the age of 12 use illegal drugs in the US,

Earlier this month, two reports suggested that an increasing number of people in Florida are suffering from drug-related deaths.

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