| Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993. |
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| substance abuse, controlled substance |
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| The curious compound noun substance abuse is a euphemism (as is the phrase controlled substance on which it is based); it is also jargon, and possibly an ambiguity too. The controlled substances are drugs, alcohol, or tobacco, materials that can be purchased only with prescription or with proof that you are of legal age to have access to them. On analogy with child abuse, substance abuse means that someone is abusing the substance. But the sense of abuse is somewhat different in each case: the child sustains harm or injury, but the drug does not; rather, it is misused. Substance abuse is now Standard idiom, but it illustrates how illogical and obfuscatory our euphemisms can sometimes be. Use of illegal drugs or misuse of controlled substances would be clearer, and substance misuse would be more accurate, but for now substance abuse is Standard. | 1 |
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| | | The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press. |
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