Missive 159

A “deeply reported, deeply moving” (Patrick Radden Keefe) account of everyday heroes fighting on the front lines of the overdose crisis, from the New York Times bestselling author of Dopesick (inspiration for the Peabody Award-winning Hulu limited series) and Factory Man .

This is the sequel to the authors Dopesick. I don’t think is was quite as good but is a well done ‘reporters’ style book. She has a couple other books that I think are are not drug related that I’ll read plus one more that is a continuation of the story of one person from Dopesick. Nearly a decade into the second wave of America’s overdose crisis, pharmaceutical companies have yet to answer for the harms they created. As pending court battles against opioid makers, distributors, and retailers drag on, addiction rates have soared to record-breaking levels during the COVID pandemic, illustrating the critical need for leadership, urgency, and change. Meanwhile, there is scant consensus between law enforcement and medical leaders, nor an understanding of how to truly scale the programs that are out there, working at the ragged edge of capacity and actually saving lives.

Distilling this massive, unprecedented national health crisis down to its character-driven emotional core as only she can, Beth Macy takes us into the country’s hardest hit places to witness the devastating personal costs that one-third of America’s families are now being forced to shoulder. Here we meet the ordinary people fighting for the least of us with the fewest resources, from harm reductionists risking arrest to bring lifesaving care to the homeless and addicted to the activists and bereaved families pushing to hold Purdue and the Sackler family accountable. These heroes come from all walks of life; what they have in common is an up-close and personal understanding of addiction that refuses to stigmatize — and therefore abandon — people who use drugs, as big pharma execs and many politicians are all too ready to do.

Like the treatment innovators she profiles, Beth Macy meets the opioid crisis where it is — not where we think it should be or wish it was. Bearing witness with clear eyes, intrepid curiosity, and unfailing empathy, she brings us the crucial next installment in the story of the defining disaster of our era, one that touches every single one of us, whether directly or indirectly. A complex story of public health, big pharma, dark money, politics, race, and class that is by turns harrowing and heartening, infuriating and inspiring, Raising Lazarus is a must-read for all Americans. — Book promo @ goodreads.com

This spare tire cover, or one like it, was on the pull trailer that was in a space across the street from me. I never spoke to the owner and possibly saw him only a couple of times.
I show this because it is ironic that he died in his trailer at his campsite last week. However he was right, life is better at the campsite. He had neighbors that watched out for him, checked up on him and when he did not answer the door the sheriff’s office was contacted and they came out and found him.
This has been a concern of mine; not for my sake because if I’m dead so what but Erik needs to be found before he also dies. At this Park I feel better that probably would happen.

These are the first two paragraphs in an excellent article by JHK. A recommended read!

Of course, you already sense that the 2024 election will be a freaky event, if it happens at all. If it’s not America’s last election altogether, it may be the last one that follows the traditional format that has signified stability in our country’s high tide as a great power: that is, a contest between Republicans and Democrats. Both parties are likely to crash and burn in the year ahead, along with a whole lot of other things on the tottering scaffold of normal life.
Have you lost count yet of the number of things in our country that are broken? The justice system. Public safety. Education. Medicine. Money. Transportation. Housing. The food supply. The border. The News business. The arts. Our relations with other countries. That’s just the big institutional stuff.  At the personal scale it’s an overwhelming plunge in living standards, loss of incomes, careers, chattels, liberties… poor health (especially mental health)… and failing confidence in any plausible future. — Party, Party by James Howard Kunstler

This is a test; I can make an avatar but maybe need more practice. HA