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BOOKS ABOUT HEROIN ABUSE
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What others have said... |
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As a heroin addict I loved this book, I read it over and over the stories were very real and the information very correct, I highly recommend this book to anyone... esp if you are a family member of an addict, an addict or work in the field of addiction, I myself have spent 28 days at The Betty Ford center, in addition to at least 39 other programs so I have a fair amount of knowledge of the subject and I still learned much from this book. |
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was not only extremely informative, historically, politically and physiologically, but also beautifully (and wittily) written. The angle taken gave a frsh perspective which enlightened me to a new way of thinking and encouraged much further thought. The debate involved re: the benefits to society and public health if a more relaxed attitude to a much feared drug was taken, although controversial made a lot of sense in the context of the information provided. The line of thinking which lies outside traditional government policy, and also popular public opinion, provides insight into possible future steps towards tackling the problems surrounding heroin in the 21st century. |
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This is Heroin is a guide for all people interested in or concerned about heroin. It is an unflinching, objective study into the place of this drug in today's society. |
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This user's guide is a well researched impartial look at all the aspects of heroin use and its intersection with areas of real life. The author displays great erudition in the areas of history, addiction, and chemistry. And knowledge of heroin use and law enforcement is informed by real world knowledge.
He basically says this is Heroin, good and bad, and its up to you to decide how you want to live your life. Ultimately everyone has basic ideas about freedom, reality, law, and life that color their opinion. But I believe this author strains to be as impartial as a person can. He certainly succeeds in taking all of the glamour out of heroin.
Also he shows how basic prejudices we associate with drugs, and heroin in particular, are colored by the times and society we live in. For this reason, the book is an excellent all around look at drug use, society and reality in general.
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Many people believe that everyone who uses heroin is addicted. In fact, this is true of only about 20 percent of heroin users. By clearing up common misconceptions like these, this book provides information that can save the lives of people using the drug. The author recounts heroin's history, details its chemistry, tells what users need to know to avoid addiction, and demystifies the life of a user: from buying to administering to detoxing and staying clean. |
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Burroughs' first book is an autobiographical tale of how he first came to try heroin and his travels across North America as, to paraphrase the author, junk became his life. To those who know Burroughs as only the writer of Naked Lunch, the straight-forward and precise prose of Junky may come as a surprise at first but, upon careful reading, all the same concerns and motifs are here. Basically, Junky tells what was happening in the real world while Burroughs was hallucinating the junk-fueled world of Naked Lunch. While it may deceptively appear to have no real structure, its meandering style instead perfectly embodies the drug-fueled lifestyle of its protaganist. Its a fascinating read that reveals that, despite beliefs to the contrary, there has always been a drug underground in the United States where junkies remain easy scapegoats for other societal problems. While Burroughs does't condemn drug use, he can hardly be accused of promoting it either. Instead, in the best libertarian tradition, he promotes only the freedom of the individual to be able to determine his own fate.
However, beyond any possible political or philosophical interpretations, this is a fast-moving, informative book with a dry wit hidden amongst the deadpan prose. What is often forgotten is that Burroughs' first known stories were all parodies of other genres and in many ways, Junky is a dead-on imitation of the hardboiled, pulp novels that were also prominent at the time.
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14-year-old Tar ran away from home to get away from his abusive father and his manipulative mother. Gemma, his girlfriend, ran away because she hated confinement. They lived in a squat with good-natured pot-smoking Anarchists and glued bank locks shut and "liberated" whatever they wanted. It all seemed so free and exciting at first.
Insert Lily, Rob, and Sal, and insert the heroin. Insert their mind-crippling scrambling to get out of their addiction. Insert pregnancy and junkie-babies. Insert sex and love and dandelions and how heroin changes you. Insert prostitution, jail, unsuccessful detox, methadone, and turning blue. And insert needing the drug so badly that all of the above had to happen.
That's Smack in a nutshell. Melvin Burgess is amazing; he unconventionally narrates the story through the very different and sometimes surreal perspectives of almost everyone in the book. And somehow, what they say appears justified, because the characters are so believable and real and stand by their beliefs with such strong convictions. You relate to sometimes-bratty-Gemma, when she snarks at her parents at the beginning of the book when they ground her. You identify with Lily and her free-for-all kind of life. You even understand Tar's abusive father, during the end of the book, when he nimbly narrates the denouement of the story with such honesty and beauty that you start crying.
And that's what Smack is. Honest and, in a strange and gritty way, beautiful. Thus, it's completely riveting and enthralling. You want to just suck the entire book in. It's intoxicating to read Tar and Gemma's slightly one-sided relationship during the first half of the novel when he says "Dandelion" (I'm in love with you, even though you're not in love with me) and she responds with "Ladybird" ("Because they're nice, and everyone likes them, and they're pretty and red...and they like dandelions. A lot."). You're floating when Tar and Gemma first try heroin with their new friends, Rob and Lily, and everything is better. You're panicked and desperate and half-dead during the second half of the book, when heroin suddenly morphs into a monster and they need it, so badly. And you're heartbroken at the end, because at the beginning of the story, everything seemed so simple and childish. It's amazing to absorb the growth and change of Tar and Gemma in the five-year-span of the book.
So, to sum up this rather lengthy review...Smack is addicting and raw and masterful. Definitely one of the best books I've real.
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I picked up this book to read before going to sleep one night, and wound up not stopping until I finished at 3AM. Luke Davies has written a completely absorbing tale of a spiraling journey into the night of addiction.
I am a horror aficionado, enjoyer of the ripening decay of flesh, bone, and blood; but in Candy there is a different Monster, a stealthy beast formed from powdery particles that feeds upon the very soul of man, tearing apart mind and spirit long before its teeth sink into the flesh.
So poignantly told in first person perspective, I was so deeply moved by this sad, bittersweet tale of innocent love that I was desperate to see the sun come up in the morning, though for a moment I doubted it would.
Rarely am I as deeply moved by a story as I was by Candy, and rarer still is an author who can breathe such animated life into his character. How can I possibly care about this guy, a junkie who steals and scams allows his wife to work as a prostitute while he nods in front of the TV all night? How can I care about Candy, who goes from aspiring actress to thousand dollar a day escort to street-hooking in the projects?
But I wound out caring a LOT, staying by them just as they stayed by each other, through all the highs and the bitter lows. Their love for each other is immense, innocent, and touching; making you believe just as they did that love can conquer all.
The book follows approximately ten years of their lives, from high-end apartments, to projects, to a run down farm in the country; through crimes and arrests and prostitution; through love and marriage and the loss of a baby; through the languid highs and the horrors of trying to kick the habit; Davies makes you actually feel their love, and their pain. I am not a crier, but I almost did after Candy, the ache I felt inside was so huge and hopeless that it left me weak with sadness.
With all the emotion spilling out from the pages, remember to prepare yourself for some rough scenes; like graphic descriptions of vein hunting and needle usage, along with a disgusting crab lice incident that almost made me hurl.
Plain and simple, this is a `Wow' book; an all-nighter so well written you will feel that you just stayed up with your old friend, listening to him pour out his heart to you. Very highly recommended.
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Ever since the publication of this updated edition in 1991, this book has been an essential text for those trying to understand the "war on drugs," the exceedingly dangerous role of the CIA in influencing the course of history, and historical relations between drugs and empire.
But now the book takes on crucial new significance. Anybody attempting to comprehend how billions of U.S. dollars were spent in creating the agents and forces that launched the September 11 attacks should read McCoy's final chapter. And this chapter suggests what a treacherous path has now been chosedn for ou nation and the world by the very same people who created and nurtured the Frankenstein's monster now lurking in Afghanistan and developing new schemes for destroying its creator.
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Not enough books have been written by financially successful, but not necessarily famous people that use or have used a "bad boy" drug like heroin or crystal methamphetimine. If you're looking for a "how drugs ruined my life and how I was saved by the 'just say no' crusade" or some such mumbo jumbo, do not read this book because you will be very disappointed. The author documents various periods from her life before, during, and after heroin, but not necessarily in that order. As a professional woman with a similar background as the author and an IV meth user myself, it was very refreshing to not encounter what I refer to as a "victum" mentality style of writing. What I mean is the author does not make excuses like "I had a bad childhood" or "I couldn't help myself, I was an addict," which is the bandwaagon trend in American society's portrayal of any illicit drug user these days. Instead, Marlowe describes her relationship with heroin as a choice, with no appologies, at different stages of her life, and throughout various circumstances. She includes her relationship with heroin and herself, heroin, her friends and herself, heroin, her lovers, and herself, as well as the heroin, career, and family triangles. Marlowe portrays a much more realistic view of the ups and downs of a middle class, daily user and entertains in the process, which is something Hollywood and mainstream American media rarely, if ever accomplish. Good read. |
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Chiva paints a picture of Chimayó New Mexico, number one per-capita consumer of heroin in the number one per-capita consumer state in the United States. The book also offers a well-researched history of the global heroin trade from past to present. The picture is ugly indeed.
For those advocating legalization (of hard drugs) as the remedy to this problem, I suggest reading this and then asking yourself: is this the kind of country I want to live in? And for those that think the current plan in the war on drugs is working, I have the same suggestion. Quite obviously it is not working and will not cure the problem.
The author points out that at one time heroin was legally introduced to China. The result: over one quarter of the adult population became hopelessly addicted. In Chimayó, the supply was plentiful, with an individual dose costing $15, but anyhing not nailed down was likely to be stolen. Overdoses and shootings were common events. A friend of mine from a barrio full of tecatos in Juarez speaks of the same.
Anywhere heroin has been introduced without control to a population, usage of the drug has increased exponentially. With disastrous consequences. The writing is good and kept me interested from start to finish. But I think the weakness of the book comes near the end where solutions to the problem are offered. There, you'll find more questions than answers.
I highly recommend Chiva for anyone interested in the drug problem or the region described in the book.
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"A well-written and thoughtful book... Acker presents a fascinating account of how addicts' negative image came to dominate public and official perceptions, as well as how it forced some users into the mold. Her careful analysis of research findings will make this book of interest to historians, drug-abuse workers, and anyone else who wants to examine the origins of American drug policy."--David F. Musto, M.D., New England Journal of Medicine |
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It changed mine for the better. My hope was renewed. It reminded me just how big and loving that God is. Even when we think we have totally missed the mark, when our plans seem to have failed, He has a bigger and better plan. What the world may view as useless, God has a purpose for. After reading this book in 2001, God blessed me with an opportunity to visit the Betel in Birmingham, England, as a missionary. The people there captured my heart, just as the book had. I have returned to Birmingham every year since. God willing, I will continue these yearly visits.It goes beyond missions, it's friendships. This book changed my life. Let it, Let God, change yours. |
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