References in NRS to persons with certain disabilities or disorders to be made using respectful language.

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1. The Legislative Counsel shall, to the extent practicable, ensure that persons with physical, mental or cognitive disabilities are referred to in Nevada Revised Statutes using language that is commonly viewed as respectful and sentence structure that refers to the person before referring to his or her disability as follows:

(a) Words and terms that are preferred for use in Nevada Revised Statutes include, without limitation, "persons with disabilities," "persons with mental illness," "persons with developmental disabilities," "persons with intellectual disabilities" and other words and terms that are structured in a similar manner.

(b) Words and terms that are not preferred for use in Nevada Revised Statutes include, without limitation, "disabled," "handicapped," "mentally disabled," "mentally ill," "mentally retarded" and other words and terms that tend to equate the disability with the person.

2. The Legislative Counsel shall, to the extent practicable, ensure that terms related to persons affected by addictive disorders are referred to in Nevada Revised Statutes using language that is commonly viewed as respectful and sentence structure that refers to the person before referring to his or her disorder as follows:

(a) Words and terms that are preferred for use in Nevada Revised Statutes include, without limitation, "addictive disorder," "persons with addictive disorders," "person with an addictive disorder," "person with an addictive disorder related to gambling" and "substance use disorder."

(b) Words and terms that are not preferred for use in Nevada Revised Statutes include, without limitation, "addict," "alcoholic," "alcohol abuse," "alcohol abuser," "alcohol and drug abuser," "drug abuse," "drug addict," "problem gambler," "substance abuse" and "substance abuser."

(Added to NRS by 2007, 906; A 2011, 2600; 2017, 2831; 2019, 1943)


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