Romancing Opiates

the long version

"Almost everything you know about heroin addiction is wrong. Not only is it wrong, but it is obviously wrong. Heroin is not highly addictive; withdrawal from it is not medically serious; addicts do not become criminals to feed their habit; addicts do not need any medical assistance to stop taking heroin; and contrary to received wisdom, heroin addiction most certainly is a moral or spiritual problem." "Based on his ample experience as a prison doctor and as a psychiatrist in a large general hospital in a British slum, Dr. Dalrymple argues that addiction to opiates is not an illness at all, and that doctors only make it worse. They deceive both the addicts and themselves by pretending that they have something to offer."--Jacket.