Opioid addiction is fast becoming the most deadly crisis in American history. It threatens our communities and families, overloads our prison system, and overwhelms any legislative solution that tries to rein it in. But how did we get here? And how do we get out? From a psychiatrist on the front lines of addiction medicine and an expert on the history of drug use, Opium is the story of the flower that helped to build -- and now threatens -- modern society. It follows opium from its origins in Mesopotamia to the labs of modern drug companies, exposing the greed, misjudgments, and racial stereotypes that transformed one of nature's most effective painkillers into a source of unspeakable pain.
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