Substance Use Disorder Stigma: Language and Attitudes Matter

Justice Speakers Institute · Sep 15, 2026

Principle 5

The first four principles in JSI’s framework have focused on what justice professionals should understand and do when responding to substance use disorders (SUDs). SUD is a chronic medical condition. It is treatable, and recovery is possible. Accountability and recovery can coexist. Justice-system responses should be guided by evidence about what works. Principle 5 addresses another factor that can influence those responses: substance use disorder stigma.

Consider, even evidence-based practices can be undermined by the assumptions we bring to them. The words used to describe…