Science-Based Approach to Preventing and Treating Drug Addiction

A. Thomas McLellan, Ph.D., one of the nation's foremost experts on drug addiction treatment goes to Washington to convince legislators that they need to radically reshape the way that the legal system deals with drug addiction. "We have been wrong in our thinking about addiction," he says. "Addiction is best considered an acquired chronic illness, like diabetes. Science has created effective prevention, early intervention and treatment, and these can and should be brought to scale in schools, justice, and medical settings."

A Thomas McLellan, Ph.D., chair of the board and Co-Founder, Treatment Research Institute, gave this presentation on the Science of Addiction at the Senate Addiction Forum on Understanding the Science of Addiction and Addressing the Collateral Consequences on December 2, 2014.

Says McLellan: "I'm fed up.. it's time to cut the crap. These issues kill people - they're life and death issues. It's time to start implementing some of these things! "