Member Review

Very few books command your attention to the extent that you'll sit up all night reading them, Dopesick, by Beth Macy, is one of those books.

I learned so much about drug addiction and the current crisis in the U.S. from Macy's research and interviews. I was so naive, I wondered why people ever got started on Oxycontin, if it was such a dangerous and addictive substance; why ever put the first pill in your mouth? Because I found out that doctors were prescribing it so freely, soaking up freebies from pharmaceutical reps who pushed the drugs to earn huge five- and six-figure bonuses.

So: many patients simply trusted their doctors and took what was prescribed, not dreaming they could become so dependent on this drug in, say, two weeks, they'd wind up stealing, lying and doing whatever it took to score more of it.

The statistic about how many people remain addicted, and how hard it is to get off the drug and stay clean, are horrifying,

I have a deeper understanding of this issue now. It's chilling, but we need to know what happened to bring society to this point, and what it takes to help addicts, before our own families are caught up in addiction. This is an important book, and i highly recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley for my e-copy. These are my honest opinions.