![]() At the time, most doctors contended that the drugs were not addictive. In Chapter 1, Macy describes the history of morphine, an opium derivative that was so widely prescribed after the Civil War that addiction became known as “soldier’s disease.” Near the beginning of the 20th century, heroin, many times more powerful than opium, was available in drug stores and in commercial cough syrup preparations. ![]() Her search for answers brought her to an interview with Ronnie Jones, a drug dealer who brought heroin to Woodstock, Virginia, as people unable to obtain Ox圜ontin pills turned to heroin. In the Prologue, Macy explains that the genesis of her book was her effort to understand how heroin ended up killing many young people in suburban and rural towns in Virginia and other Appalachian states. Macy uses anecdotes, interviews, research from on-the-ground volunteers and doctors, and scholarly sources to provide an exhaustive picture of the corporate greed that created the opioid epidemic. Content Warning: This book includes descriptions of substance abuse, violence, sex-trafficking, and profanity.ĭopesick is an account of how the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma, owned by the Sackler family, introduced opioid painkiller Ox圜ontin in 1996 and touched off a wave of addiction to opium-derived drugs in rural America. ![]()
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