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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
Insightful, creatively written and expansive story about how heroin and oxy converged to create the opioid epidemic. follows many storylines but pulls it all together with a fresh perspective on how to create new space for addiction recovery. so inspiring and entertaining!
Wow. If you want to understand how America now finds itself in the grips of a staggering opioid epidemic, read this book. It’s non-fiction that reads like a good novel, only sadly, it’s all a true story.
The author lays out how a perfect storm of a new type of drug suppliers (think small cell operators instead of giant drug cartels) and doctors prescribing opioids at unprecedented levels, combined with a savvy drug manufacturer poised to make a huge profit came together to get us to where we are now: there is an overdose death by opiates every half hour in this country. Drug overdoses passes fatal vehicle accidents nationwide for the first time in 2008.
The story is fascinating and tragic, enraging and truly sad. People trusted doctors and ended up addicted to opioids. When they could no longer get them legally, because the morphine molecule is so strong, they turned to heroin. A tiny village in Mexico supplied the mid-sized cities in this country and turned many of them into hollowed out drug dens, never using weapons or carrying large amounts to stay under the radar of law enforcement. They’d stake out methadone clinics to get new customers. Soon wealthy white suburbs became the biggest customer base.
There is plenty of blame to go around here, but the book ends on a positive note for one Ohio town that’s been particularly hard hit. I think every American would benefit from reading this book; we can’t begin to fix the problems if we don’t understand them. And if you’re a reader like me (living in an east coast urban setting, whose life is largely untouched by this epidemic), this book will give you insights and understanding into what is happening to our country.
The author lays out how a perfect storm of a new type of drug suppliers (think small cell operators instead of giant drug cartels) and doctors prescribing opioids at unprecedented levels, combined with a savvy drug manufacturer poised to make a huge profit came together to get us to where we are now: there is an overdose death by opiates every half hour in this country. Drug overdoses passes fatal vehicle accidents nationwide for the first time in 2008.
The story is fascinating and tragic, enraging and truly sad. People trusted doctors and ended up addicted to opioids. When they could no longer get them legally, because the morphine molecule is so strong, they turned to heroin. A tiny village in Mexico supplied the mid-sized cities in this country and turned many of them into hollowed out drug dens, never using weapons or carrying large amounts to stay under the radar of law enforcement. They’d stake out methadone clinics to get new customers. Soon wealthy white suburbs became the biggest customer base.
There is plenty of blame to go around here, but the book ends on a positive note for one Ohio town that’s been particularly hard hit. I think every American would benefit from reading this book; we can’t begin to fix the problems if we don’t understand them. And if you’re a reader like me (living in an east coast urban setting, whose life is largely untouched by this epidemic), this book will give you insights and understanding into what is happening to our country.
I listened to the audiobook. It's a hard one. The narrator is great, the writing is great, but the content is rough. DREAMLAND is full of depressing stories and hard realities. My biggest takeaway is that the pharmaceutical companies are corrupt, the doctors are corrupt, the insurance companies are corrupt, and the government is corrupt. That's not mind blowing but it reinforces the idea.
An eye-opening read explaining how the opioid scourge sprouted in America and paved the way for the proliferation of heroin across the nation. Vitally important for helping understand where we are today and how we got here.
informative
sad
medium-paced
Loved this book. Such a deep dive into the Mexican drug trade as well as the drug industry and personal stories.
Each chapter is only a few pages long, and skips from topic to topic so it's easy to get through a relatively dense book.
Each chapter is only a few pages long, and skips from topic to topic so it's easy to get through a relatively dense book.
Informative read about the roots of the opiod crisis in the U.S., specifically in mid-sized cities across the country. The book looks at not only the role that pharmaceutical companies play in this epidemic, but also at where much of the black tar heroin that has been exacerbating the crisis comes from. I learned a lot!
This book was incredible in both breadth and depth. Heartbreaking yet optimistic. Such an important and multi faceted story.
Fascinating look at the opioid crisis in America with information that was brand new to me. This wide-ranging investigation looks at the origin story of pain treatment in American medicine, which may have started in an obscure letter in a major medical journal. Quinones reveals the training of the pharmaceutical representatives, and the tactics used to increase prescription of opioids. He describes the truly ingenious sales and distribution of black tar heroin, managed from afar in Nayarit, Mexico. He looks at the economic forces that create a vulnerable audience, but also looks at how children of privilege wind up trapped by addiction. However much you think you know about heroin, there is almost certainly new information in this book.
