Addiction Expert: Treatment Providers Can Perpetuate Media Stereotypes of Patients | The Partnership at Drugfree.org

"When the media portrays people struggling with addiction in a negative light, it is not considered politically incorrect, and there is no widespread objection, Salsitz argued. He gave examples of jokes about methadone clinics made on two recent episodes of “Saturday Night Live,” and a joke Amy Poehler made about pills at the recent Golden Globes Awards. Late-night hosts Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel have made jokes about junkies and addicts, he said. “These jokes aren’t made out of maliciousness, they’re made out of ignorance, and no one objects. But they are hurtful to patients and their families.”