They addressed the complex issue of demand with Nancy Reagan’s reductive “Just Say No” campaign. While presumably well-meaning, the campaign also spent millions trying to reinforce the idea that addiction was a character flaw—something you could stop by “just saying no”—and not a disease. This became, inadvertently, one of the most destructive and stigmatizing efforts ever undertaken by the federal government in the area of addiction or mental health. It reinforced, to an entire generation, that not being addicted, not being mentally ill, was as easy as “just saying no” if you only had the
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