A review by reading_at_rest
Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic by Sam Quinones

2.0

This book felt repetitive like a lot of the other reviews seem to mention but it was interesting so it kept me reading. I even felt like the second half of the book was more interesting than the first. But, I don't understand a 345 page book on the opiate epidemic that includes some discussion on treatment never mentioning evidence based medication-assisted treatment. Leaving that out of the discussion, called the entire book into question for me. I left the book feeling like I couldn't trust the other parts of the books either not knowing what else was intentionally left out if something so obvious wasn't addressed. It bothered me because the style of the book seems like serious investigative journalism and doesn't appear to be too biased. I think this book will add to the stigma around medication-assisted treatment since nearly every mention of methadone is to mention the drivers going to methadone clinics for customers. The reference I see to it as treatment refers to it as an "addict-maintenance drug." I think the book will add to the stigma that chronic pain patients face. The book talks about drug courts, AA/NA, "tough love", and long term inpatient rehabs and implies they are the answers without ever questioning their effectiveness.