Product Description
A powerful critique of our current drug-rehab system, through the stories of the addicts inside it. Lonny Shavelson’s 1995 book on euthanasia, A Chosen Death, spoke to us at the right time: it engaged that most difficult issue with such personally moving stories that it was serialized in People magazine, leading to uncommon book sales for serious nonfiction. Now Hooked comes as we are finally waking up to the inadequacies of our current drug-rehab policies. With court-mandated rehab being debated across the country, Shavelson’s in-depth look at the struggles of five addicts as they travel through the treatment maze makes a powerful case for reform. Highly readable and shaped by Shavelson’s experiences as a journalist and physician, Hooked takes us through the anguishing “intake” and controversial House meetings, inside counselors’ and judges’ offices where many treatment decisions are made, and to prison cells where, under current policies, many addicts end up. It explores the links between drug addiction, mental illness, and trauma, including child abuse—links often ignored by current rehab efforts—and argues for an integrated approach that treats the roots of drug abuse, not just the behavior itself. Sure to play a major role in the national debates, Hooked offers a provocative, honest look at the seemingly intractable issue of drug addiction, and offers powerful alternatives to our current policies. 24 black-and-white photographs.

Hooked: Five Addicts Challenge Our Misguided Rehab System