28 records matched your query       

Author:

Halpern, John (Physican) author.

Title:

Opium : how an ancient flower shaped and poisoned our world / John H. Halpern, MD, and David Blistein.

Edition:

First edition.

Publisher:

Hachette Books,

Copyright Date:

2019

Description:

xxiv, 328 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color), color maps, portraits (some color) ; 24 cm

Subject:

Opium--History.
Opium abuse--History.
Opium trade--History.
Opium poppy--History.

Other Authors:

Blistein, David, author.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [277]-315) and index.

Summary:

Opioid addiction is fast becoming the most deadly crisis in American history. In 2017, it claimed nearly fifty thousand lives -- more than gunshots and car crashes combined, and almost as many Americans as were killed in the entire Vietnam War. But even as the overdose crisis ravages our nation -- straining our prison system, dividing families, and defying virtually every legislative solution to treat it-- few understand how it came to be. Opium tells the extraordinary and at times harrowing tale of how we arrived at today's crisis, "mak[ing] timely and startling connections among painkillers, politics, finance, and society" (Laurence Bergreen). The story begins with the discovery of poppy artifacts in ancient Mesopotamia, and goes on to explore how Greek physicians and obscure chemists discovered opium's effects and refined its power, how colonial empires marketed it around the world, and eventually how international drug companies developed a range of powerful synthetic opioids that led to an epidemic of addiction. Throughout, Dr. John Halpern and David Blistein reveal the fascinating role that opium has played in building our modern world, from trade networks to medical protocols to drug enforcement policies. Most importantly, they disentangle how crucial misjudgments, patterns of greed, and racial stereotypes served to transform one of nature's most effective painkillers into a source of unspeakable pain-and how, using the insights of history, state-of-the-art science, and a compassionate approach to the illness of addiction, we can overcome today's overdose epidemic. This urgent and masterfully woven narrative tells an epic story of how one beautiful flower became the fascination of leaders, tycoons, and nations through the centuries and in their hands exposed the fragility of our civilization.

ISBN:

0316417661
9780316417662

OCLC:

(OCoLC)1110700164

Locations:

YKPE532 -- Anamosa Library & Learning Center (Anamosa)

PNAX964 -- Northeast Iowa Community College Library - Calmar (Calmar)

UQAX771 -- Des Moines Area Community College Library - Ankeny (Carroll)

TYPH572 -- Cedar Rapids Public Library (Cedar Rapids)

CEAX572 -- Kirkwood Community College Library (Cedar Rapids)

XBPE737 -- Lied Public Library - Clarinda (Clarinda)

OJPC027 -- Corning Public Library (Corning)

BAPH771 -- Des Moines Public Library (Des Moines)

XUPC157 -- Griswold Public Library (Griswold)

OVUX522 -- University of Iowa Libraries (Iowa City)

CAPH522 -- Iowa City Public Library (Iowa City)

YEPF572 -- Marion Public Library (Marion)

BVPE851 -- Nevada Public Library (Nevada)

ESPD725 -- Sibley Public Library (Sibley)