kbrown5455 's review for:

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

5.0

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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.