Scott Walker, Governor of Wisconsin, signs proclamation declaring April 23-29, 2018 "Addiction Treatment Awareness Week" throughout the State of Wisconsin. National Addiction Treatment Week, an initiative by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), raises awareness that addiction is a disease, evidence-based treatments are available, and recovery is possible. 

Nearly 20.5 million Americans suffer from a substance use disorder (SUD), yet only 1 in 10 people with SUD receive treatment.[1] An estimated 1.8 million Americans have opioid use disorder (OUD) related to prescription opioids [2]; 626,000 have heroin-related OUD [3] with an estimated cost of over $504 billion [4]. Every year in the State of Wisconsin, an average of at least 1,706 people die from an alcohol-related issue. In 2016, an estimated 1,074 people died from a drug overdose in Wisconsin [5], according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

“Generating awareness that addiction is a disease and more clinicians need to be trained in addiction medicine is critical to saving patients’ lives.” said Matthew Felgus, MD, FASAM, President, Wisconsin Society of Addiction Medicine. “We are thrilled that Governor Walker has taken this important step to help increase awareness in Wisconsin.” 

National Addiction Treatment Week promotes that addiction is a disease, recovery is possible, and more clinicians need to enter the field of addiction medicine. 

Learn more on how to get involved and spread the word about the need for a larger addiction medicine workforce.

1 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the Surgeon General, Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health. Washington, DC: HHS, November 2016. CH 4-2
2 Council of Economic Advisers. (2017, November). The underestimated cost of the opioid crisis. Washington, DC: Executive Office of the President of the United States.
3 ibid
4 Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. (2017). Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
5 https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/drug_poisoning_mortality/drug_poisoning.htm