Over the years, I have studied addiction and one thing that puzzles me is that it is classified as a disease yet we don’t treat addicts like people who are sick with a disease. Most medical professionals agree that addiction is a disease. The American Medical Association (AMA) classified alcoholism as a disease in 1956 and included addiction as a disease in 1987. Then why as a society are we not treating it like a disease after all these years. The problem is not getting better because we as a society are not stepping up and doing our part to prevent this disease. In 2017, 19.7 million American people over age 12 suffered from substance use disorder. Also on 2017, 1 out of every 8 adults struggled with both alcohol and drug use disorders simultaneously. Yet we sit back and do nothing. Drug abuse and addiction cost American society more than $740 billion annually in lost workplace productivity, healthcare expenses, and crime-related costs. So instead of paying to help people, we will just pay for it later. Why do we not step and try to prevent addiction. When 1 person is addicted there is a whole family who is affected. People go to the doctor and dentist to prevent future problems to reduce healthcare costs. American needs to come up with a program to help prevent addiction in our youth. In 2017, 1 out of 25 young adults ages 12-17 had substance use disorder. I believe that if we could save 1 person from addiction then all our efforts will be worth it. Please take a stand and let’s help make America great. May GOD bless you all!