Social Security stops enforcing rules from the 1950s that blocked disabled people from getting benefits if they used drugs or alcohol

The Social Security Administration is deleting old regulations that automatically disqualified people from disability benefits if they had a history of drug addiction or alcoholism. In practice, this means someone who became disabled and also struggles with substance use can now apply for — and potentially receive — disability payments, without the addiction itself being a permanent bar to eligibility.

These rules were written in the 1950s when drug addiction and alcoholism were treated as moral failures, not medical conditions. Deleting them means the agency is shifting from categorical exclusion (you have this condition, you're out) to individual assessment (does your disability prevent you from working?). The real effect is simpler: disabled people with substance use histories now enter the same evaluation process as everyone else, instead of being automatically rejected at the door.