DRUGS & ADDICTION
Pervasive misunderstandings about drug use, addiction, and drug policy underpin our failure to realize comprehensive reform. While Cover My Dreams in Ink portrays a journey that is not without misconceptions, its Epilogue was written with the benefit of hindsight. Its introduction states:
PAUL FELL VICTIM to senseless regulations and ignorance. And as I analyze the forces at play, I confront the fact that his death was preventable. The realization sickens me but propels me to delve deeper. I study the science, the legislation, and the current state of support services. With a deeper understanding, I turn my attention to how I can use what I’ve learned to help others.
Expanded in the 2nd Edition of Cover My Dreams in Ink, the Epilogue gave me the opportunity to follow our story of misfortune, missteps, and flying blind, with knowledge accumulated over time. By shedding light on the "forces at play," I hope that readers—moved by our story and sensitized to the high stakes of our ignorance and the tragedy of overdose fatalities—will lend their own voices to counter the mentality that perpetuates so much human suffering.
With gratitude to the pioneers of this myth-busting quest, on whose coattails I have come into my own as an advocate for reform, I am providing some resources and inviting others to join me in this discovery. By no means exhaustive, this list of readings—including some of my most highly recommended books as well as articles, reports, and abstracts—represents a range of findings from our national thought leaders on addiction, be they physicians, scientists, human rights advocates, or authors.
I hope that perusing these resources will spark further interest in seeking and synthesizing fact-based information and in railing against the stigma that cripples the way forward.
This listing is, and will remain, a work in progress. While I was focused on the accuracy of the information, I didn’t choose the format of a formal bibliography. I welcome feedback of any nature.
BOOKS
Curious, A Foster Mom’s Discovery of an Unexpected Solution to Drugs and Addiction by Christina Dent
Undoing Drugs, The Story of Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction by Maia Szalavitz
The Weight of Air, A Story of the Lies About Addiction and the Truth About Recovery by David Poses
Unbroken Brain, A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction by Maia Szalavitz
Fentanyl, Inc., How Rogue Chemists Are Creating the Deadliest Wave of the Opioid Epidemic by Ben Westhoff
Fighting for Space, How a Group of Drug Users Transformed One City's Struggle With Addiction by Travis Lupick
War on Us, How the War on Drugs and Myths About Addiction Have Created a War on All of Us by Colleen Cowles
American Fix, Inside the Opioid Addiction Crisis and How to End It by Ryan Hampton
Outgrowing Addiction, With Common Sense Instead of Disease Therapy by Stanton Peele & Zach Rhoads.
High Price, A Neuroscientist's Journey of Self-Discovery That Challenges Everything You Know About Drugs and Society by Carl Hart
Chasing the Scream, The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs by Johann Hari
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, Close Encounters with Addiction by Gabor Maté
OTHER READINGS (with links)
We’re Approaching the Overdose Crisis All Wrong by Sarah Wakeman, MD — MedPage Today, August 16, 2022
The War on Drugs Comes to the Doctor’s Office by Jared Rodriguez — Truthout, June 30, 2021
The Other Public Health Crisis: How the DOJ Can Flatten the Overdose Curve by Leo Beletsky, Morgan Godvin, & Jeremiah Goulka — The Appeal, June 11, 2021
We're Overlooking a Major Culprit in the Opioid Crisis by Maia Szalavitz — Scientific American, May 28, 2021
Policies Should Promote Access to Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder, PEW Charitable Trust, Issue Brief, May 24, 2021
A Real Opportunity in the Fight Against Opioid Use Disorders by Jeff Chapman & Beth Connolly — PEW Charitable Trust, Opinion, May 7, 2021
Most People With Addiction Outgrow It Naturally. We Need to Hear Them by Zach Rhoads. Filter Magazine, March 1, 2021
What Popular Culture Misunderstands About Addiction by Zachary Siegel — The Nation, February 18, 2021
Physicians’ Progress Toward Ending the Nation’s Drug Overdose and Death Epidemic by American Medical Association, Opioid Task Force — AMA 2020 Report
Opportunities to Improve Opioid Use Disorder and Infectious Disease Services: Integrating Responses to a Dual Epidemic The National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine — Consensus Study Report Highlights, January 2020
The Deadliest Year in the History of U.S. Drug Use by Zachary Siegel — New York Magazine, Intelligencer, December 23, 2020
Comparison of Rates of Overdose and Hospitalization After Initiation of Medication for Opioid Use Disorder in the Inpatient vs Outpatient Setting by Jake R. Morgan, Joshua A. Barocas, et al — JAMA Network Open, December 15, 2020
Exaggerating Harmful Drug Effects on the Brain Is Killing Black People by Carl Hart — Neuron, July 22, 2020
Study: Methadone and Buprenorphine Aren't Used Enough in Opioid Recovery by Gaby Galvin — U.S. News and World Report, February 5, 2020
Comparative Effectiveness of Different Treatment Pathways for Opioid Use Disorder by Sarah E. Wakeman, et al — JAMA Network Open, February 5, 2020.
Scapegoating Opioid Makers Lets True Offender Get Away by Jeffrey A. Singer — CATO Institute Commentary, April 24, 2019
What We Have Learned Over the Last Ten Years: A Summary of Knowledge by The United Nations Coordination Task Team on Drug-Related Matters — United Nations Report, March 2019
Beyond Purdue: Our Deadly Unlearned Lessons From the Overdose Crisis by Helen Redmond — Filter Magazine, March 27, 2019
American Drug Overdose Death Rates the Highest Among Wealthy Nations by Jenesse Miller — SC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics Newsletter, February 21, 2019
Prevention of Prescription Opioid Misuse and Projected Overdose Deaths in the United States by Qiushi Chen, et al — AMA Open Network, February 1, 2019
The Simple Idea That Could Help End America’s Opioid Epidemic by German Lopez — Vox, January 3, 2019
States of Incarceration: The Global Context 2018 by Peter Wagner & Wendy Sawyer — The Prison Policy Initiative, June 2018
More Imprisonment Does Not Reduce State Drug Problems by PEW Charitable Trust — Issue Brief, March 8, 2018
What Science Says to Do if Your Loved One Has an Opioid Addiction by Maia Szalavitz — FiveThirtyEIght Science, July 19, 2016