In \;
Today\, mor e people have access to treatment than ever before. So why isn&rsquo\;t it working? The answer is that in America&mdash\;where anyone can get addict ed&mdash\;only certain people get a real chance to recover. Despite record numbers of overdose deaths\, our default response is still to punish\, wh ile rehabs across the United States fail to incorporate scientifically pro ven strategies and exploit patients. \;
\nIn this book\, you&rsquo\;ll find the stories of four people who r epresent the failures of the rehab-industrial complex\, and the ways our t reatment system often prevents recovery. April is a black mom in Philadelp hia\, who witnessed firsthand how the government&rsquo\;s punitive respons e to the crack epidemic impeded her mother&rsquo\;s recovery&mdash\;and th en her own. Chris\, a young middle-class white man from Louisiana\, receiv ed more opportunities in his addiction than April\, including the chance t o go to treatment instead of prison. Yet the only program the judge permit ted was one that forced him to perform unpaid back-breaking labor at for-p rofit companies. Wendy is a mother from a wealthy suburb of Los Angeles\, whose son died in a sober living home. She began investigating for-profit treatment programs&mdash\;yet law enforcement and regulators routinely ign ored her warnings\, allowing rehab patients to die\, again and again. Larr y is a surgeon who himself struggled with addiction\, and would eventually become one of the first Suboxone prescribers in the nation\, drawing the scrutiny of the Drug Enforcement Administration. \;
\nBe sure to register now to participate in this urgent conversation and learn insight on how we might fix the system to save live s.
\nAbout the Author
\nShoshana Walter is a reporter for the Marshall Project covering t he criminal justice system. Her reporting has been honored as a finalist f or the Pulitzer Prize and Selden Ring\, and she has won the Knight Award f or Public Service\, the Edward R. Murrow Award\, and the Livingston Award for Young Journalists. She started her work on the treatment system at The Center for Investigative Reporting\, where her work appeared in The N ew York Times Magazine\, in newspapers\, and on NPR stations across the country. She is based in Oakland\, California.
\nAbout the Guest Host
\nBarba ra Ellen Kingsolver is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist\, essayi st\, and poet. Her widely known works include The Poisonwood Bible\, the tale of a missionary family in the Congo\, and Animal\, Vegeta ble\, Miracle\, a nonfiction account of her family'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 interaction between humans and the ir communities and environments.
\nBrought to you in partnership with the Library Speakers Consortiu
m. Visit our site to see all events\, register and explore recordi
ngs of past events.