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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
Two fascinating, interweaving tales that explain our opiate epidemic. The failures in the medical community are astounding, the ingenuity of the Xalisco Boys equally so. A load of individual stories enlivens the book, which could have used a bit more editing than it got.
informative
reflective
fast-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Trafficking, Pandemic/Epidemic
The invasion of black tar heroin from Mexico at the same time as the opioid epidemic was happening in America is a story hard to imagine but thoroughly explored in this book.
I was just finishing “Dreamland” — a book published in 2015, before the Trump reign — as the returns of the 2020 election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump came rolling in. Early on there was a hint that Biden might flip Ohio from the Republicans, but that was not to be.
Dreamland is largely set in the border town of Portsmouth, Ohio, facing Kentucky on the Ohio River.
The area appears to be part of the Republican rural stronghold.
According to Quinones compelling, strange, and frightening story it was also Ground Zero for the confluence of two major trends in rural American life: the seeming endless supplies of painkillers sometimes dispensed by dubious “pills mills,” pain treatment clinics, and the growth of high grade heroine imported by an endless stream of drug runners from a small, poor, and rural Mexican community.
Not only were poor, often unemployed in rural America subject to the pill economy, but relatively wealthy suburbanites and their children were dragged into it, sometimes motivated by the same forces that kept them on top: affluence.
Even as I read this book hundreds of millions of pain killers are prescribed across America — and here in Canada — where physicians often haven’t the time nor the expertise to manage paid reduction regimens, or the expertise to wean their patients off them.
Quinones’ story begins with a small town in prosperous America enjoying the industrial expansion of the early 1900’s and ends with that same town trying to repair its footing after most of the jobs have left, the town tax rolls impoverished, and a booming business in drug rehab.
The pain and resentment of Trump followers aside, rural America is slowly making a comeback, particularly as the COVID pandemic moves a lot of those downtown urban jobs back to the hinterland.
This is a story of communities in evolution.
It’s not pretty but really relevant.
Dreamland is largely set in the border town of Portsmouth, Ohio, facing Kentucky on the Ohio River.
The area appears to be part of the Republican rural stronghold.
According to Quinones compelling, strange, and frightening story it was also Ground Zero for the confluence of two major trends in rural American life: the seeming endless supplies of painkillers sometimes dispensed by dubious “pills mills,” pain treatment clinics, and the growth of high grade heroine imported by an endless stream of drug runners from a small, poor, and rural Mexican community.
Not only were poor, often unemployed in rural America subject to the pill economy, but relatively wealthy suburbanites and their children were dragged into it, sometimes motivated by the same forces that kept them on top: affluence.
Even as I read this book hundreds of millions of pain killers are prescribed across America — and here in Canada — where physicians often haven’t the time nor the expertise to manage paid reduction regimens, or the expertise to wean their patients off them.
Quinones’ story begins with a small town in prosperous America enjoying the industrial expansion of the early 1900’s and ends with that same town trying to repair its footing after most of the jobs have left, the town tax rolls impoverished, and a booming business in drug rehab.
The pain and resentment of Trump followers aside, rural America is slowly making a comeback, particularly as the COVID pandemic moves a lot of those downtown urban jobs back to the hinterland.
This is a story of communities in evolution.
It’s not pretty but really relevant.
First off, there are a number of virulently fatphobic claims in this book that, for me, called the entire book into question. The book states that most opioid users are fat. Which leaves so many questions, does opioid use cause massive weight gain or is this just fatphobia? Did I miss something? He also victim blames said fat opioid users by basically saying that if they would put effort into exercising, cutting down on calories, and just lost weight then they would no longer be in pain. It's just too absurd for belief, especially considering that he mainly focused on the start of the epidemic when it wasn't common knowledge that opioids were addictive and doctors freely prescribed them to any and all.
Second read February 2021. Still think this is an important book.
Very interesting examination of the pain treatment industry and the heroin epidemic that resulted from the prescription pain medication that was widely prescribed even though the drug maker knew the risks.
Very interesting examination of the pain treatment industry and the heroin epidemic that resulted from the prescription pain medication that was widely prescribed even though the drug maker knew the risks.
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction
Minor: Fatphobia
This book is tremendous. And very interesting. For those who complain it's repetitive, I will say there is some repetition, but it was not so over the top that I stopped reading it. To those who commented there was no character development, I really beg to differ - to book had several strands of characters, Big Pharma, the Mexican "boys" who were delivering the drugs (and WHY they did it), the doctors who started pill mills... It's a fascinating look at how a perfect storm happened. It's an important book to understand how this increase of heroin addiction returned to the forefront, where it came from, why it was so prevalent and understanding better how to treat those with addiction. It will also help us understand that getting rid of the dealers is a different kettle of fish than other types of drug deals.
I read this because it was referenced in empire of pain? Maybe. Great book easy to digest.