In August, 2019, a close friend lost her brother, who became yet another statistic in the ongoing crisis regarding opioid and other drug use in America. I had met him previously and his death seemed surreal at the time. In fact, it still does. His parents had never experienced anything like it and did what they could to get him the help that he needed. For them and thousands of other parents who have lost a child to drugs, they often wonder how did this happen? And what could we have done to stop it? There are many answers to both questions but in this eye-opening book, Sam Quinones tackles the first question and tells the story of the development of the opioid epidemic in America.
Purdue Pharma, the company that reaped billions of dollars in the manufacture and sale of OxyContin, filed for bankruptcy in September, 2019, as it settled scores of claims former opioid addicts and family members of those who perished while addicted to the drug. As part of its bankruptcy filing, it will pay out billions of dollars to those who fell victim to the company’s false adveritsing. However, it is not the first time Purdue Pharma paid out money in litigation. Quinones revisits the year 2007, in which former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia John Brownlee launched an investigation into the company’s advertising practices. Purdue later entered into a plea deal with the government in which it agreed to pay a $634.5 million dollar fine. Several of its top executives later served time in prison.
When we think of the opioid epidemic, many ideas come to mind of the drugs that people take the alleviate pain and in other cases, feed an addiction that has become a raging monster. Some users rely on prescription drugs while others have turned to street drugs, the most popular of which is heroin. I personally knew someone who succumbed to heroin and each time I think of how short his life was, I shake my head in disbelief. But I also realize that he was not himself and was caught in the grip of a drug that changes the way the mind and body functions. We know these drugs exist, but the question is why?
Quinones presents a premise for the book which answers why we have opioids to begin with. Doctors have long sought a way to relieve pain for patients without casuing addiction. In short, they were searching for what Quinones calls the “holy grail”, a nonaddictive pain killer. But to understand the current crisis, we first must learn how opioids were developed and the author provides a back story to their development. The origins of heroin, methadone, diacetylmorphine and morhpine are discussed. As I read the book, I thought to myself that the doctors who discovered these drugs most likely had no idea what they would become in years after their deaths. If they had, perhaps one of more of them would have tried to halt its production. We shall never know.
The story at hand is really two separate account of opioids, both legal and illegal. Quinones weaves both into one story but alternates between the two as the book progresses. One part of the story begins with prescription pain killers in the medical field, whose development was quite low until phyiscians Dr. Russell Portenoy and Dr. Kathleen Foley published a paper in 1981 which did not find a direct link to opioid use and later addiction. The pharmaceutical industry took notice and the town of Portsmouth, Ohio began to feel the effects from a wave of drugs that later changed an entire country. Portsmouth had once been a thriving city in small town America and Quinones provides a well-written and informative section devoted to its rise and decline, with particular focus on its once mega-sized pool called dreamland. The small town’s story forms part of the rust-belt narrative featured prominently throughout the rest of the book.
The other part of the story begins in Mexico where we visit the town of Xalisco in the State of Nayarit. Some readers may be unfamiliar with the town and I personally did not know of its importance to the drug epidemic. Quinones explains life in this small town, based largely in part of his time living in Mexico. As the story of the Xalisco becomes more important, I began to ask myself the same questions as law enforcement personnel: how did this small Mexican town flood the United States with heroin? The story is actually quite simple and Quinones re-assembles the pieces of the puzzle so readers can see how the infiltration in America’s suburbs began, targeting a generation of young white suburban kids. It is a part of the war on drugs that many still do not fully understand but this book certainly removes all doubt. The ghost of trafficker David Tejada and others continues to haunt the lives of kids addicted to black tar heroin which has caused the deaths of thousands of young men and women.
The pharmaceutical industry has become a behemoth in the manufacture and distribution of pain killers. Purdue Pharma, which has been embroiled in controversy, traces its origins back to the legacy of Arthur Sackler (1913-1987), whose family was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit that resulted in its recent bankruptcy filing. It is imperative to understand Sackler’s influence and Quinones delivers the goods. In addition to Sackler, there are many others who played a crucial role in the development of prescription pain killers with varying degrees of influence including Dr. Hershel Jick and his then assistant Jane Porter Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program, Dr. Nathaniel Katz and quack phsyician Dr. David Procter, who could be described as the father of the pill mill.
On the other side of the battle there were many who realized early that something was brewing and that America was in trouble. Law enforcment officers began to notice a new trend in drug use across small town America but sadly, many of these departments had never been exposed to narcotics of that caliber. And it is an issue which the author explains quite well. Heroin and other dangerous drugs were never thought of something suburban kids did, it was only what the “city people” did. However, its introduction into the American heartland changed all perceptions and people soon realized that the drug spares no one. It does not care about wealth, gender, ethnicity or anything else. Its sole purpose is to addict the user. Drs. Jennifer Sable, Ed Socie and Gary Franklin had begun to sound the alarm bells with the help of pharmacologist Jaymie Mai but many years would pass before those in power too notice. And years before Purdue came crumbling down, another lawyer named Joe Hale had attempted to bring the company to justice. The stories of these men and women whose efforts did not go in vain are covered here and Quinones has done a great service to them in showing readers that there were those fighting the battle many years ago.
To say that this book is incredible would be an understatement. It is at times surreal and at others, infuriating. Greed and negligence combined to spread a wave of deadly addiction across an entire country. And the failed war on drugs was equally responsible. Quinones has presented an irrefutable account of the opioid epidemic and its stranglehold on the nation. For the families of victims such as Matt Schoonover, the pain never ends. And I think of Francisco Baez, whom I knew very well until his death at the young age of twenty-four. Their stories are just a sample of the thousands of opoid related deaths every year in America. And parts of the country which never knew hard drugs are being forced to reckon with a new demon that destroys everything in its path. This story is an American tragedy but it allows us to see how and why America turned into dreamland. Excellent read.
ISBN-10: 1620402505
ISBN-13: 978-1620402504
In the spring of 1846, a group of settlers left home in Springfield, Illinois en route to either Oregon or California. A popular destination for many was the City of Yerba Buena, known today as San Francisco. By the first week of may, the party had reached Independence Missouri and soon continued on their route. They soon learned of an apparent shortcut through what is known as the Hastings cut-off near Salt Lake City, Utah. The trail was named after Confederate General Lansford Hastings (1819-1870). It was believed that the shortcut would eliminate as much as three hundred miles off of their trip. The group separated and eighty-seven people continued on the trail. Instead of elminating travel time, their journey was extended by another month. Deeply behind schedule, their provisions began to run low and winter soon set in. By the time their ordeal was over, only forty-eight had survived. Some managed to survive by turning to cannibalism and that act has earned them a permanent place in American pop culture. We have come to know this group pf settlers as the Donner Party.
The past several years have given way to a rise in the number of opioid related deaths in the United States. Cities across America have struggled with a surge in drug overdoses and lack of proper facilities to handle the deceased. I knew several people who battled an addiction to opioids and all but one are now deceased. It is a soul crushing and life depleting addiction that cuts across all ethnic lines. Many of us know someone who is currently battling an addiction or once did in the past, whether it was opioids, alcohol or some other substance. And what we all know is that addicts do not get clean until they have realized there is no where else to go but in the ground. Dan Peres is a former Editor in Chief for Women’s Wear Daily Details and in this revealing memoir, he details his own struggle with a drug addcition that nearly took his life.
Discussions of the 1916 uprising in Ireland tend to focus on a select group of figures. The names of Patrick Pearse (1897-1916) and James Connolly (1868-1916) are legend in Irish history and their actions part of the narrative of the Republican fight for a united Ireland. In December, 1921, the British Government and Republican forces reached an agreement that officially partitioned Ireland into Unionist north and Republican south. The southern part was established as the Free Irish State, to be led by Michael Collins (1890-1922)who became Chairman of the Provisional Government of the Irish Free State. Collins is well-known in Irish history for his unwavering support of the Republican cause. However, there was another figure who not only worked closely with Collins, but someone whose own story and actions are typically left out of the official narrative. Pictured to the left General Richard Mulcahy (1886-1971), one of the founding members of the Irish Free State and staunch supporter of Irish independence. When I saw this book for sale, I knew immediately that I had to read it and understand who the intriguing character on the cover of the book really was.
I saw this book in my list of recommendations on Amazon and decided to take a closer look. The cover caught my attention and after reading the full title, my interest peaked. On January 9, 1969 a group of students belonging to the Swarthmore Afro-American Students Society (SASS), took over the admissions office at Swarthmore College. In the months prior, a working paper regarding the recruitment and admission of black students had been released, resulting in immediately backlash from the university’s black students who felt their privacy had been violated and their experiences ignored. The animosity between the students and Dean Hargadon continued to increase and the students felt they had no option but to act. Joyce Frisby Baynes, Harold S. Buchanan, Jannette O. Domingo, Marilyn J. Holifield, Aundrea White Kelly, Marilyn Allman Maye, Myra E. Rose and Bridget Van Gronigen Warren moved into the admissions office and over the next few days, their resistance changed the course of history for Swarthmore College.
When I think back to my youth, I recall various automobiles that were own by my father, uncles and friends. Their cars were American made and typically products of General Motors. Buick, Pontiac and Cadillac were the cars of choice and hardly anyone then owned a foreign car. If you owned a Cadillac, it meant status and success in the America. Detroit became Motor City and its dominance over the U.S. auto industry remained in place for several decades until automakers from Japan and Germany stormed into the American market. The city has an extensive past, beginning with French explorer Antoine de Lamothe Cadillac (1658-1730) for whom the luxury automobile is named after. In 1701, he established what is now Detroit before eventually returning to France where he lived out the rest of his days. The evolution of Detroit is one of America’s greatest success stories and also one of its greatest tragedies. Throughout all, its black citizens have always remained firm in their dedication to seeing Detroit become a city to be envied. Herb Boyd takes another look at his city and the role of black men and women in the development of a famed city.
In 2019, streaming giant Netflix premiered “
History has many dark secrets that some have wished remained hidden from the official record so that the history that has been portrayed remains sanitized and above reproach. But it is also said that what you do in the dark always comes to light. In the wake of the coup that saw the overthrow of Chilean President Salvador Allende (1908-1973) on September 11, 1973, the country was placed in a vice grip by his successor, Augusto Pinochet (1915-2006), who commenced a program of retribution against enemies, activist and those “suspected” of being part of the opposition to the new government. His regime was marred by human rights violations for which he was arrested by British Police in England on October 17, 1998. Pinochet was extradited back to his native Chile but never stood trial for his actions. He died on December 10, 2006 of congestive heart failure and pulmonary edema. His death marked the end of legal action to bring him to justice but it did not stop the prosecution of others who were complicit in the horrific actions that took place in the aftermath of the coup. Researchers continued to investigate Pinochet’s actions and those of fellow dictators in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. During one such expedition in Paraguay, a trove of documents were uncovered that shed light on a joint program created by several neighboring countries to track down those deemed enemies of the state with the purpose of execution. The program is known as Operation Condor and here Charles River Editors provides a concise summary of how and why the program came into existence.
On June 6, 1944, American, British and Canadian troops stormed the beaches at Normandy, France and commenced an ground war against Nazi Germany. The European Theatre was marked by brutal fighting that saw high numbers of casualties on all sides of the conflict. In the end, Nazi Germany fell to allied forces and accepted an unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945, commonly known as VE Day. The Japanese military continued to fight and remained defiant until two atomic bombs forced it too into surrending to Allied forces. VJ Day marked the end to World War II and the world breathed a sign of relief. For the United States Army, the European Theatre was a hard fought campaign that no one ever wanted to see again. Author Stephen Ambrose has composed a breathtaking account of the Army’s mission from the beaches at Normandy until the Allies seized Berlin in May, 1945.
FREETHINKING BIBLIOPHILE 
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