Today\, more people have access to treatme nt than ever before. So why isn&rsquo\;t it working? The answer is that in America&mdash\;where anyone can get addicted&mdash\;only certain people g et a real chance to recover. Despite record numbers of overdose deaths\, o ur default response is still to punish\, while rehabs across the United St ates fail to incorporate scientifically proven strategies and exploit pati ents. \;
\nIn Rehab: An American Scandal\, you&rsquo\;l l find the stories of four people who represent the failures of the rehab- industrial complex\, and the ways our treatment system often prevents reco very. April is a black mom in Philadelphia\, who witnessed firsthand how t he government&rsquo\;s punitive response to the crack epidemic impeded her mother&rsquo\;s recovery&mdash\;and then her own. Chris\, a young middle- class white man from Louisiana\, received more opportunities in his addict ion than April\, including the chance to go to treatment instead of prison . Yet the only program the judge permitted was one that forced him to perf orm unpaid back-breaking labor at for-profit companies. Wendy is a mother from a wealthy suburb of Los Angeles\, whose son died in a sober living ho me. She began investigating for-profit treatment programs&mdash\;yet law e nforcement and regulators routinely ignored her warnings\, allowing rehab patients to die\, again and again. Larry is a surgeon who himself struggle d with addiction\, and would eventually become one of the first Suboxone p rescribers in the nation\, drawing the scrutiny of the Drug Enforcement Ad ministration. \;
\nBe sure to register now to participate in thi s urgent conversation and learn insight on how we might fix the system to save lives.
\nAbout the Author
\nShoshana Wal ter is a reporter for the Marshall Project covering the criminal justice s ystem. Her reporting has been honored as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and Selden Ring\, and she has won the Knight Award for Public Service\, t he Edward R. Murrow Award\, and the Livingston Award for Young Journalists . She started her work on the treatment system at The Center for Investiga tive Reporting\, where her work appeared in The New York Times Magazin e\, in newspapers\, and on NPR stations across the country. She is ba sed in Oakland\, California.
\nAbout the Guest Host
\nBarbara Ellen Kingsolver is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American nov elist\, essayist\, and poet. Her widely known works include \;The Poisonwood Bible\, the tale of a missionary family in the Congo\, and Animal\, Vegetable\, Miracle\, a nonfiction account of her famil y's attempts to eat locally. In 2023\, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for the novel \;Demon Copperhead. Her work often focuses on topics such as social justice\, biodiversity\, and the interact ion between humans and their communities and environments.
\nDisclaimer
\nThe views expressed by prese nters are their own and their appearance in a program does not imply an en dorsement of them or any entity they represent. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by Indianapolis Public Library.
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