On the Shelf at CCBC Libraries
Painkillers, Heroin, and the Road to Sanity by
Recovery from prescription painkiller or heroin addiction can feel impossible, with low numbers of people sustaining recovery. But there is hope. With guidance from those in long-term recovery, along with new approaches to treatment, a healthy, drug-free life is possible. Recovery from prescription painkiller or heroin addiction can feel impossible, especially considering that those who have gone through typical twenty-eight-day treatment programs often experience relapses and sometimes even fatal overdoses. But there is hope.In Painkillers, Heroin, and the Road to Sanity, recovering addict and prominent interventionist Joani Gammill offers a radically effective approach for those struggling with opiate addiction, sharing sometimes controversial tips that have worked for others who are in long-term recovery. Gammill examines the science behind the low numbers of people sustaining recovery from the disease of opiate addiction. Tapping the pioneering work of treatment professionals whose new approaches are changing the way we think about opiate addiction, she offers practical steps for creating a realistic and effective recovery plan.Gammill affirms that recovery from opiate addiction is a process, not an event. This honest and trustworthy guide reveals that, although it may not happen in one detox or treatment experience, a healthy, drug-free life is possible.
Call Number: RC568.O6 G36 2014
Dreamland by
Winner of the NBCC Award for General Nonfiction Named on Amazon's Best Books of the Year 2015--Michael Botticelli, U.S. Drug Czar (Politico) Favorite Book of the Year--Angus Deaton, Nobel Prize Economics (Bloomberg/WSJ) Best Books of 2015--Matt Bevin, Governor of Kentucky (WSJ) Books of the Year--Slate.com's 10 Best Books of 2015--Entertainment Weekly's 10 Best Books of 2015 --Buzzfeed's 19 Best Nonfiction Books of 2015--The Daily Beast's Best Big Idea Books of 2015--Seattle Times' Best Books of 2015--Boston Globe's Best Books of 2015--St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Best Books of 2015--The Guardian's The Best Book We Read All Year--Audible's Best Books of 2015--Texas Observer's Five Books We Loved in 2015--Chicago Public Library's Best Nonfiction Books of 2015 From a small town in Mexico to the boardrooms of Big Pharma to main streets nationwide, an explosive and shocking account of addiction in the heartland of America. In 1929, in the blue-collar city of Portsmouth, Ohio, a company built a swimming pool the size of a football field; named Dreamland, it became the vital center of the community. Now, addiction has devastated Portsmouth, as it has hundreds of small rural towns and suburbs across America--addiction like no other the country has ever faced. How that happened is the riveting story of Dreamland. With a great reporter's narrative skill and the storytelling ability of a novelist, acclaimed journalist Sam Quinones weaves together two classic tales of capitalism run amok whose unintentional collision has been catastrophic. The unfettered prescribing of pain medications during the 1990s reached its peak in Purdue Pharma's campaign to market OxyContin, its new, expensive--extremely addictive--miracle painkiller. Meanwhile, a massive influx of black tar heroin--cheap, potent, and originating from one small county on Mexico's west coast, independent of any drug cartel--assaulted small town and mid-sized cities across the country, driven by a brilliant, almost unbeatable marketing and distribution system. Together these phenomena continue to lay waste to communities from Tennessee to Oregon, Indiana to New Mexico. Introducing a memorable cast of characters--pharma pioneers, young Mexican entrepreneurs, narcotics investigators, survivors, and parents--Quinones shows how these tales fit together. Dreamland is a revelatory account of the corrosive threat facing America and its heartland.
Call Number: HV5840.M4 Q56 2016
Brain-Robbers by
A psychiatrist examines how the world's four most important mind-altering substances-- alcohol, cocaine, nicotine, and opiates--have played a significant role throughout human history, and explains how these powerful drugs affect the brain and cause addiction. Alcohol, cocaine, nicotine, and opiates have spurred some of the greatest human pleasure and pain across time. Providing information that ranges as widely as from ancient Egypt to modern times, this book comprehensively addresses the good, the bad, and the very ugliest aspects of these substances, examining their history, their effects on the brain and body, and on civilization itself. Frances R. Frankenburg, MD, employs accessible, everyday language to explain the neurology of addiction and describe how these "brain-robbing" substances work to hijack the brain's pleasure systems to create powerful addictions. The author also provides perspective into the intertwined, inescapable, and often uneasy relationship between these substances and human culture, economics, and politics--for example, how individuals become physically or psychologically addicted to alcohol, cocaine, nicotine, and opiates, while governments become financially "addicted" to the revenue, such as taxes, that can be collected from the sale and use of these substances. Presents a historical review of four plant-derived drugs--alcohol, cocaine, nicotine, and opiates--and their effects throughout human civilization, as well as a fascinating exploration of the mystery and misery of addiction Provides comprehensive explanations of medical and psychiatric effects of these drugs Supplies stories of people who made discoveries about these drugs or who had their lives altered by them Describes the discovery of the way in which the brain works Includes illustrations of brain pathways and of the four plants of origin for these drugs, and maps showing drug trade triangles
Call Number: RC564 .F73 2014
Online Articles
- Ocean Vuong: ‘I was addicted to everything you could crush into a white powder'
The Guardian, April 2, 2022
Databases
- ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
Articles on any subject. This is a good place to start.
- Health Source - Consumer Edition This link opens in a new window
Articles about medicine and health for professionals and patients.
Other Helpful Guides
Online From CCBC Libraries
American Epidemic by
Just a few years ago, the opioid crisis could be referred to as a 'silent epidemic,' but the scourge of opiate addiction is no longer being overlooked. This is in large part thanks to the extraordinary writings featured in this volume. Some of the most impactful reporting in the United States in recent years has addressed the opiate addiction crisis, a body of work that provides the best picture available of the epidemic. Now, for the first time, these key works of reportage and analysis have been collected in one volume, providing the fullest portrait available of this national tragedy.
Publication Date: 2019
College Resources
- Opioids in Connecticut: A Narrative Historyfrom Ocean Vuong Project, Wesleyan University