000			03176cam a2200385Ii 4500
001			on1110700164
003			OCoLC
005			20190827094807.0
008			190731t20192019nyuabcf b 001 0deng d
040			_aNjBwBT _beng _erda _cPNX _dPNX _dOCLCQ _dOCLCO _dACN _dUAP _dNFG
019			_a1112667296
020			_a9780316417662 _q(hardcover)
020			_a0316417661 _q(hardcover)
035			_a(OCoLC)1110700164 _z(OCoLC)1112667296
092			_a362.293 _bH195
049			_aNFGA
100	1		_aHalpern, John, _eauthor.
245	1	0	_aOpium : _bhow an ancient flower shaped and poisoned our world / _cJohn H. Halpern, MD, and David Blistein.
250			_aFirst edition.
264		1	_aNew York : _bHachette Books, _c2019.
264		4	_c©2019
300			_axxiv, 328 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : _billustrations (chiefly color), color maps, portraits (some color) ; _c24 cm
336			_atext _btxt _2rdacontent
336			_astill image _bsti _2rdacontent
337			_aunmediated _bn _2rdamedia
338			_avolume _bnc _2rdacarrier
520			_aOpioid 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.
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references (pages [277]-315) and index.
650		0	_aOpium _xHistory.
650		0	_aOpium abuse _xHistory.
650		0	_aOpium trade _xHistory.
650		0	_aOpium poppy _xHistory.
700	1		_aBlistein, David, _eauthor.
994			_aC0 _bNFG
999			_c296873 _d296873