Dopesick

by Beth Macy

[Beth C.]

I remember back in high school, as part of a senior project about drugs and drug use, I had to write a paper. My argument in that paper was that legalization of any drug was a terrible idea, and would ultimately do more harm than good. This was back in 1990, when "just say no" was the all-encompassing message sent out to kids around the country. That paper, and the overly-simplistic attitude and mindset are not things I think about very often these days...but they definitely come to mind upon finishing this book. So many of the attitudes as related in this book - by doctors, law enforcement, citizens - are still the same narrow-minded and overly-simplistic ones I remember from back then. While this epidemic rages - almost no one remains untouched (My best friend's husband, long addicted to Oxy, left her and their daughter for meth - stealing their savings and pawning so many of their belongings. While she was dealing with a diagnosis of MS and helping their daughter recover from spinal surgery, she was also dealing with the betrayal, hurt, and anger - and helping him into multiple rehab centers. He's currently in prison, not having seen his daughter for years, and still addicted.). Beth Macy, expanding on her reporting for the Roanoke Times, explains how and why Oxy became a gateway drug to harder ones like heroin, and delves into just why treatments as they currently stand have such terrible relapse rates. She is unflinching in explaining how bureaucracies and out-of-date policies collide with the NIMBY viewpoints of many and the belief that abstinence-only rehabs are "superior" to make sure that few addicts truly get the treatments they need to be successful.

It's a heartbreaking book, and an infuriating one. It's educational (I'm a parent who prays fervently that my children never ever find themselves in this struggle - but if they do, I'll have a head start on what treatment options have science to back them.), and it's eye-opening. Frankly, everyone should read this book, because this epidemic will not go away until more people truly have an awareness of what it's like on the front lines of this disease.

NOTE: I urge everyone reading this review and/or this book, or even those just interested - please follow the Surgeon General's new guidelines and get trained on the use of nalaxone. Then have a kit with you. We can all do our part. For more information, please go to

https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/opioid-overdose-reversal-naloxone-narcan-evzio