Discrimination against drug addicts

Discrimination against people with substance use disorders is a form of discrimination against people with this disease. In the United States, people with substance use disorders are often blamed for their disease, which is often seen as a moral failing, due to a lack of public understanding about substance use disorders being diseases of the brain with 40-60% heritability. People with substance use disorders are likely to be stigmatized, whether in society or healthcare.

In the process of stigmatization, people with substance use disorders are stereotyped as having a particular set of undesirable traits, in turn causing other individuals to act in a fearful or prejudicial manner toward them.