The woke language police are at it again.
The Hochul administration wants to cancel using the word “addict” to describe a druggie in New York State government – proposing the uber-PC alternative “person with a substance abuse disorder.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul tucked a ban on “addict” and “habitual user” as part of a plan to tackle the opioid epidemic in her $252 billion budget proposal unveiled Tuesday, even though the state agency overseeing abuse treatment is called the Office of Addiction Services and Supports.
“The bill also removes stigmatizing language in multiple areas of law by replacing `an addict or a habitual user of any narcotic drug’ with ‘a person with a substance use disorder,’” a budget memo said.
Critics said the obsession with language is yet another example of word salad-tinged political correctness run amok.
“New York State government should stop worrying about verbiage and worry about providing treatment,” state Conservative Party chairman Gerard Kasser said. “I’d rather see state officials focusing on saving lives.”
Hochul’s spending plan outlays nearly $1.25 billion for substance abuse treatment via the OASS.
One Republican lawmaker slammed the banning of the word “addict” as “ridiculous.”
“My Democrat colleagues and the governor have always been worried more about semantics than actually doing good things to improve the lives of New Yorkers — including those that have addiction issues,” Sen. George Borrello (R-Jamestown) said.
“Worrying about what something is titled instead of about the effectiveness of the policy has always bogged down Democrats.”
But one veteran drug treatment provider defended Hochul’s censoring of the word “addict” and “habitual user,” saying words do matter.
“The purpose of the change is to reduce the stigma for people who are dependent on drugs,” said Luke Nasta, executive director of the Staten Island-based Camelot Counseling.
“Substance abuse permeates society,” he added. “It’s a good thing to remove the stigma. We can make the problem more understandable and better address it if we reduce the stigma.”
He said the governor is just formalizing the way treatment providers refer to patients — as people with a substance use disorder.
Still, Nasta has been critical of the state’s oversight of drug treatment, saying it takes years to open a residential treatment facility because of red tape.
Hochul’s spending plan would allow paramedics to administer Buprenorphine/nalox to treat opioid abuse.
It would also allow providers to issue three-day supply of opioid use disorder medication to curb the likelihood of overdose.
