{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-statement-on-surgeon-general-addiction-report", "Whitehouse Statement on Surgeon General Addiction Report", "2016-11-18", "2016", "2016-11", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11.18.16\n\t\t\t Whitehouse Statement on Surgeon General Addiction Report \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tThis week, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued the \u201cSurgeon General\u2019s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health,\u201d the first comprehensive study compiled by the federal government\u2019s top public health spokesman examining the toll of substance misuse in America and the best available knowledge to address it.\u00a0 U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, who authored comprehensive addiction and recovery legislation that was signed into law this year, released the following statement on the report:\r\n\u201cFor too long, we tended to think of substance abuse as a moral failing rather than the dangerous disease that is.\u00a0 Thankfully, that\u2019s starting to change.\u00a0 The Surgeon General\u2019s report and other new research are showing how substance disorders work and how best to treat them.\u00a0 Congress passed my comprehensive addiction and recovery legislation to fundamentally change the federal government\u2019s approach to solving this problem.\u00a0 And states like Rhode Island are putting together good plans of their own that fit the specific needs of their communities.\u00a0 Addiction is a powerful illness and recovery is a long and difficult path, but we are making progress.\u201d\r\nIn the report, the Surgeon General finds that \u201c[a]lcohol and drug misuse and related disorders are major public health challenges that are taking an enormous toll on individuals, families, and society,\u201d adding that last year alone, \u201cover 27 million people in the United States reported current use of illicit drugs or misuse of prescription drugs, and over 66 million people (nearly a quarter of the adult and adolescent population) reported drinking in the past month.\u201d\u00a0\r\nThe full report is available here.\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-statement-on-surgeon-general-addiction-report"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.406561117619276, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}