Do we have a new president yet? I wrote this post before Election Day, so I’m not sure that the United States actually elected a new president on Tuesday, November 8th. For all I know, the country could be experiencing a replay of 2000, when a close election between George W. Bush and Al Gore meant that the country did not elect a president until well after Election Day. (If that’s the case, heaven help us.)

While I’m not sure who’s going to take the presidential oath of office in January in 2017, I do know that I want this person to talk about drug addiction and alcohol abuse. Why? Drug and alcohol abuse are both so destructive, but they’re also so common.

Substance use disorder affects millions of people—the people who abuse substances, their relatives, their friends, their coworkers, and others. It costs billions of dollars in treatment costs, lost wages, and lost productivity. You probably know someone who abuses drugs or alcohol—in fact, it would probably be unusual if you haven’t met someone with this condition. Substance use disorder is a problem in all of our backyards, so I hope our new presidential administration recognizes this and does something about it.

Have U.S. presidents ever done anything about drugs? Back in the early 1970s, Richard M. Nixon declared that the United States was going to declare a war on drugs. This antidrug stance continued through other presidential administrations. In the 1980s, First Lady Nancy Reagan urged young people to “just say no” to drugs such as crack cocaine.

Despite these stances and efforts, the United States is still fighting the war on drugs, and it doesn’t appear to be winning. Millions of people are struggling with substance use disorder either as addicts themselves or as the friends, family members, or coworkers of addicts. Drug addiction and alcohol abuse damages addicts’ health and relationships and also costs money. Substance use disorder places strain on the health care and legal systems, since many abused substances are illegal.

By addressing substance use disorder and helping to promote treatments, the new presidential administration could help millions of people preserve their health and relationships. The administration could help free the country’s health care, criminal justice, and legal systems, so they can concentrate on other pressing matters. This new administration could help make substance use disorder less substantial.