Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic
Ratings33
Average rating4.2
15
Ratings33
Average rating4.2
Sam Quinones chronicles how, over the past 15 years, enterprising sugar cane farmers in a small county on the west coast of Mexico created a unique distribution system that brought black tar heroin-- the cheapest, most addictive form of the opiate, 2 to 3 times purer than its white powder cousin-- to the veins of people across the United States.
Reviews with the most likes.
Fairly extensive look at the opioid crisis and the intersection with the Mexican black tar heroin trade. This book is incredibly repetitive. The subject matter is fascinating in its own terrible way, and I recommend reading this if it's a topic of interest but by all means skim if you find yourself thinking “he just talked about this anecdote a chapter ago.”
Well-written, blistering book about the opiate explosion. The author skillfully draws together many strands of a complicated story. However, somewhere after the middle of the book, he tells the same story over and over and over and over and...
In 2024, we're reading headlines about players in the pharmaceutical industry settling enormous, multi-state lawsuits. But in 2015, when this book was published, the opiate epidemic was really just starting to fully come into focus. This is sometimes repetitive and bounces around a little too much for my personal taste, but it's a wide-ranging look at the factors that came together to create one of the most devastating public health crises of our time.
