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Dreamland (YA edition): The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic

7/21/2019

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Review of Dreamland YA edition.
Dreamland: The True Tail Of America's Opiate Epidemic by Sam Quinones

I grew up never really understanding the opiate epidemic. I remember hearing about various celebrities being addicted to pills & feeling disgusted with them. It was a weird time for me, one where I flat out couldn't grasp anyone being addicted to prescription drugs. I even remember in my early twenties going to the doctor due to limited mobility due to extreme pain in my elbow. Doctor after doctor couldn't figure out what was wrong (I just need exercise, I slowly started gentle weight training & it eventually disappeared, never to return more than twenty years later). Endless x-rays, MRI's, blood work, you name it. One doctor insisted it was rheumatoid arthritis. After that, by accident for TMJ (Temporal Mandibular Joint or TMD Temporal Mandibular Disorder), during an X-Ray it was noticed that I had an issue with my neck vertebrae (again in my early twenties - worst health ever in my early twenties & no, I wasn't fat, I was thin & got virtually no exercise whatsoever & ate the typical SAD (Standard American Diet) diet). I was sent to a neck doctor this wonderful man was trying to get me on pain pills. I told him repeatedly that my neck didn't bother me, that I didn't need pain pills (I already had a doctor prescribing me Celebrex for my "arthritis"). For some reason we ended the visit but both of us walking to the elevator together. It was in the elevator that this man told my young self after once again trying to get me on pain pills & after me refusing, again, that it wasn't like he could hold me down & force them down my throat. I'll never forget that as long as I shall live, I was stunned. Apparently he was one of the doctors of this book 'Dreamland'. A doctor who made lots of money pushing, ahem, prescribing pain pills unnecessarily to folks in minor (or in my case no) pain.

As the years progressed, I lost former High School friends to drug addiction, watched co-workers get pills when it was so obvious they didn't need them, lost my cousin who was not a distant cousin, but a young man who I cared for as an infant when I was a teen & who I was in touch with up until he died of an overdose. His story (not his specifically but others like him) is in this book. How he tried over & over & over & over to break it, but in the end he lost; my aunts only child, her miracle baby. She has yet to recover from the loss & I don't expect she ever will. The pain of it is crushing. I also lost a young, smart co-worker. She was found dead in the Burger King parking lot of an over dose. Beautiful & smart. Very early twenties. Dead.

I'm grateful to this book for so clearly showing the chain of events that lead to our current epidemic. Life experiences plus the additional information in this book has opened my eyes to the corruption & greed that I truly didn't know or understand was going on in America. It also clarifies the presidents statement that the illegal Mexican's are bringing in drugs to our country. Boy are they ever! This book explains how at first the drug problem was brushed aside. After all, we are talking about legal drugs, obtained legally! Once you see how it started, it is heartbreaking. Sure, not everyone has the personality to become an addict, & there are those who may fall in between who may have never fallen if not for a mislead (or corrupt, there are both after all) doctor.

If you were like myself, not really grasping or understanding the opiate epidemic, this is the book for you. The young adult adaptation makes it a very easy read & easy to understand. I read it in only three short days. Now I cannot forget it.

You may also like:
Review of Best Before the evolution and future of processed food by Nicola Temple.
Book review of Feeding You Lies by Vani Hari.
Book Corner Quick Links
Links to the books I've read & reviewed for your convenience!

  • You Are What Your Grandparents Ate
  • Good Mornings: Morning Rituals For Wellness, Peace,and Purpose
  • Healthy Eating For Life
  • Troubled Water What's Wrong With What We Drink
  • Beekeeping For Beginners How To Raise Your First Bee Colonies
  • Dreamland (YA edition): The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic
  • Yoga For Better Sleep
  • Everyday Healing with Essential Oils
  • Buzz Sting Bite Why We Need Insects
  • National Geographic Complete Guide to Pet Health, Behavior, and Happiness
  • Coffee House Knits
  • Feeding You Lies
  • Why Social Media is Ruining Your Life
  • Breakfast The Most Important Book About The Best Meal Of The Day
  • Complete Wellness Enjoy Long-Lasting Health and Well-Being
  • The Sh!t No One Tells You About Pregnancy: A Guide to Surviving Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Beyond
  • The Complete Guide To Adaptogens From Ashwagandaha to Rhodiola, Medicinal Herbs That Transform and Heal
  • Beginning Beekeeping
  • Before The Evolution and Future of Processed Food
  • The Psychobiotic Revolution
  • Simple & Natural Soapmaking: Create 100% Pure and Beautiful Soaps with The Nerdy Farm Wife’s Easy Recipes and Techniques
  • The Flower Book
  • The Essential Oils Complete Reference Guide: Over 250 Recipes for Natural Wholesome Aromatherapy
  • The Gut Makeover: 4 Weeks to Nourish Your Gut, Revolutionize Your Health, and Lose Weight
  • The Field Guide To Pregnancy
  • 101 Easy Homemade Products for Your Skin, Health & Home: A Nerdy Farm Wife's All-Natural DIY Projects Using Commonly Found Herbs, Flowers & Other Plants
  • The Chicken Health Handbook
  • Chickens In Your Backyard:  A Beginners Guide
  • The Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health: More Than 200 New Vegetarian and Vegan Recipes for Delicious and Nutrient-Rich Dishes
  • The Joy of Jams, Jellies, and Other Sweet Preserves: 200 Classic and Contemporary Recipes Showcasing the Fabulous Flavors of Fresh Fruits
  • The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America's Emerging Battle over Food Rights
  • The Joy of Pickling: 250 Flavor-Packed Recipes for Vegetables and More from Garden or Market
  • Style, Naturally: The Savvy Shopping Guide to Sustainable Fashion and Beauty
  • The Gort Cloud: The Invisible Force Powering Today's Most Visible Green Brands
  • Feed Your Skin, Starve Your Wrinkles
  • Sleeping Naked Is Green
  • Naturally Thin: Unleash Your SkinnyGirl and Free Yourself from a Lifetime of Dieting
  • Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything
  • Beef: The Untold Story of How Milk, Meat, and Muscle Shaped the World
  • Fortify Your Life: Your Guide to Vitamins, Minerals, and More
  • Healing Herbs:  A Beginner's Guide To Identifying, Foraging, and Using Medicinal Plants
  • The How Can It Be Gluten Free Cookbook
  • The Virgin Diet Cookbook: 150 Easy and Delicious Recipes to Lose Weight and Feel Better Fast
  • Flip Dolls & Other Toys That Zip, Stack, Hide, Grab & Go
  • Healthy at Home: Get Well and Stay Well Without Prescriptions
  • Cows Save the Planet: And Other Improbable Ways of Restoring Soil to Heal the Earth
  • Integrative Wellness Rules: A Simple Guide to Healthy Living
  • Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us
  • How Stella Saved the Farm: A Tale About Making Innovation Happen
  • The Virgin Diet: Drop 7 Foods, Lose 7 Pounds, Just 7 Days
  • The Easy Organizer: 365 Tips for Conquering Clutter
  • The Seed Underground: A Growing Revolution to Save Food
  • Probiotics For Dummies
  • Beyond Sugar Shock: The 6-Week Plan to Break Free of Your Sugar Addiction & Get Slimmer, Sexier & Sweeter
  • Small Business For Dummies
  • Starting An Etsy Business For Dummies
  • Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred: Seriously Geeky Stuff to Make with Your Kids
  • The Beauty Detox Solution: Eat Your Way to Radiant Skin, Renewed Energy and the Body You've Always Wanted
  • A Woman's Guide to a Healthy Stomach: Taking Control of Your Digestive Health
  • Holy Shit: Managing Manure to Save Mankind
  • Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It
  • Terra Madre: Forging a New Global Network of Sustainable Food Communities
  • The Hundred Year Diet: America's Voracious Appetite For Losing Weight
  • Twelve by Twelve: A One-Room Cabin Off the Grid and Beyond the American Dream
  • Felties: How to Make 18 Cute and Fuzzy Friends from Felt
  • Bread Matters: The State of Modern Bread and a Definitive Guide to Baking Your Own
  • Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders: 101 Small Indulgences
  • Success With Baby Chicks
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    Do you dream about living the simple life?  Your own idyllic farm where the cows moo and the veggies are the best you've ever eaten? I've got a surprise for you, homesteading isn't easy! Join me at my small eco family farm where we stumble often, and learn as we go. This is indeed the good life, but it is also a very hard life that only rewards for that hard work... or not!  Back to the land, it's tough and I love it.Hi there! My name is Jen. I'm a "tree hugging dirt worshiper" who has been organically farming for nearly two decades. It never ceases to amaze me at how much I've learned & how much I am still learning. I have studied natural health, nutrition, & herbs for nearly three decades. Our health & the natural world around us are connected in ways we don't often realize. How we treat the land & animals directly affects us in both body & mind. My goal is to provide others with truly natural humane goods from my own little piece of paradise, & to freely pass along whatever knowledge I pick up along the way. I am grateful every day to be able to have such a worthwhile & fulfilling job surrounded by the beauty & unpredictability of Mother Nature.

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