lureen mcneil, director, bureau of recovery services, new york state office of alcoholism and substance abuse services, new york, new york. carlos hardy, director of public affairs, baltimore substance abuse systems, incorporated, baltimore, maryland. john, what role does language play in forming public opinion on addiction and mental health issues? i think language plays a critical role in the way that, after all, it's the, it conveys the meaning of, of what we're trying to express. and so i think it plays a very important role and we should think carefully about the terms that we use because of that. so, why does some language impede the understanding, lureen, of, of our field and the way we refer to people? well i think particularly now that we have this new recovery framework, people are holding on to the old language. and the new language really holds the fullness of the framework, it really shows the validity of the framework, it shows the reality of recovery. and so the fact people are holding on to that old language, is really impeding us from moving forward into this new framew