# 31

DoubleSpeak/DoubleThink is alive and well in addiction circles.

Understanding the Legislature's English in Substance Abuse Matters and how efforts are underway by persons who do not like the legal terms to subtly change the terms/meaning.

The term "doublespeak" probably has its roots in George Orwell's book Nineteen Eighty-Four. Although the term is not used in the book, it is a close relative of one of the book's central concepts, "doublethink". Another variant, "doubletalk", also referring to deliberately ambiguous speech, did exist at the time Orwell wrote his book, but the usage of "doublespeak" as well as of "doubletalk" in the sense emphasizing ambiguity clearly postdates the publication of Nineteen Eighty-Four.^[5][6] Parallels have also been drawn between doublespeak and Orwell's classic essay Politics and the English Language, which discusses the distortion of language for political purposes.^[7]
Edward S. Herman, political economist and media analyst, has highlighted some examples of doublespeak and doublethink in modern society.^[8] Herman describes in his book, Beyond Hypocrisy the principal characteristics of doublespeak:

What is really important in the world of doublespeak is the ability to lie, whether knowingly or unconsciously, and to get away with it; and the ability to use lies and choose and shape facts selectively, blocking out those that don’t fit an agenda or program.^[9]

In his essay "Politics and the English Language", George Orwell observes that political language serves to distort and obfuscate reality. Orwell’s description of political speech is extremely similar to the contemporary definition of doublespeak;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doublespeak

I recently visited some Substance Addiction websites and performed content analysis on the language used to describe things.  For example, as one sentence described a fatal OD substance, the writer did not use the term: abuse.

In the politically-charged world of addiction/recovery, a new language is presenting which is inconsistent with State Law Maker's terms and language.  In the passage I read, the writer who did not use the term abuse, instead wrote the word use.  Their dropping of the prefix ab, before the word use, may be interpreted by some as being less judgmental or pre-determinant.  Surely, it was not a typographical error.

Meanwhile, below, the Code of Virginia features 188 instances reflecting the use of the legal term: substance abuse.

Certainly, ever since the AMA described alcohol and substance abuse as disease, Society should be trying to remove the stigma which has attached to the self-administering adults.  In a perfect world, that may someday occur and every patient having these diseases will be treated by Physicians...because Physicians have accorded the term disease to the condition and only Physicians treat disease.  However, some of the very persons who are concerned about the placement of the prefix ab in front of the word use have absolutely no problem that non-Physician former alcohol/substance addicts are providing the majority of treatment for the diseases by way of counseling.

Parallel Universes

Legal Terms, published in Codified Laws, are the precise descriptors used by Judges, Lawyers, Court Clerks, Police and Detectives, Probation Officers, Medical Examiners, Toxicology/Forensic Science Labs and the Legislators which craft the wording of their laws.

Contrary to the Law's accurate expressions are two subsets of persons directly affected by Addiction.  One group, as reported earlier in this blog, accepts the legal terms and tells the painful truth as they craft the obituaries of their addicted loved-ones - frequently pegging the outcomes to choices made by the addicts.  The other group is not about to be so forthcoming (yes, of course they have that right) and, without attempting to have their Legislature remove the term Substance Abuse from the law books, they operate on a separate path and use a language which can be as crafty as Orwell described.

The Bible says that we should test/prove everything.

1 Thessalonians 5:20-22King James Version (KJV)

²⁰ Despise not prophesyings.
²¹ Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
²² Abstain from all appearance of evil.

The same level of testing/proving should be applied to anything involving substances and addiction as readers seek the truth...even the testing/proving of this blog. 

§ 37.2-100. Definitions.

As used in this title, unless the context requires a different meaning:
"Abuse" means any act or failure to act by an employee or other person responsible for the care of an individual in a facility or program operated, licensed, or funded by the Department, excluding those operated by the Department of Corrections, that was performed or was failed to be performed knowingly, recklessly, or intentionally, and that caused or might have caused physical or psychological harm, injury, or death to an individual receiving care or treatment for mental illness, intellectual disability, or substance abuse. Examples of abuse include acts such as:

"Administrative policy community services board" or "administrative policy board" means the public body organized in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 5 (§ 37.2-500 et seq.) that is appointed by and accountable to the governing body of each city and county that established it to set policy for and administer the provision of mental health, developmental, and substance abuse services. The "administrative policy community services board" or "administrative policy board" denotes the board, the members of which are appointed pursuant to § 37.2-501 with the powers and duties enumerated in subsection A of § 37.2-504 and § 37.2-505. Mental health, developmental, and substance abuse services are provided through local government staff or through contracts with other organizations and providers.
"Behavioral health authority" or "authority" means a public body and a body corporate and politic organized in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 6 (§ 37.2-600 et seq.) that is appointed by and accountable to the governing body of the city or county that established it for the provision of mental health, developmental, and substance abuse services. "Behavioral health authority" or "authority" also includes the organization that provides these services through its own staff or through contracts with other organizations and providers.
"Behavioral health services" means the full range of mental health and substance abuse services.
"Board" means the State Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.
"Community services board" means the public body established pursuant to § 37.2-501 that provides mental health, developmental, and substance abuse services within each city and county that established it; the term "community services board" shall include administrative policy community services boards, operating community services boards, and local government departments with policy-advisory community services boards.

http://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title37.2/chapter1/section37.2-100/