Addiction Science

Uwe Blesching, author of The Cannabis Health Index, clearly and thoroughly lays out the overwhelming benefits of using cannabis - not only to reduce the nation’s dependence on opioids - but also to manage the craving and withdrawal symptoms of opioid addiction, and especially to address the pain that leads to drug use and addiction in the first place.

An eye-opening and hard-hitting work, When Religion is an Addiction not only puts the political activities of the right-wing in a new perspective, but explains how liberal responses have often enabled religious addiction to thrive. Dr. Minor applies contemporary understandings of addictions to the extreme Christian right-wing in the United States and concludes that for them religion is functioning as a process addiction. Crucial to the addictiveness of such religion is its obsession with human depravity, the ultimate expression of low self-worth.

In a pharmacy in Kermit, West Virginia, 12 million opioid pain pills were distributed in just three years to a town with a population of 382 people. One woman, after losing her brother to overdose, was desperate for justice. Debbie Preece’s fight for accountability for her brother’s death took her well beyond the Sav-Rite Pharmacy in coal country, ultimately leading to three of the biggest drug wholesalers in the country. She was joined by a crusading lawyer and by local journalist Eric Eyre, who uncovered a massive opioid pill-dumping scandal.

Aspen Quick has never really worried about how he's affecting people when he steals from them. But this summer he'll discover just how strong the Quick family magic is - and how far they'll go to keep their secrets safe. With a smart, arrogant protagonist, a sinister family tradition, and an ending you won't see coming, this is a fast-paced, twisty story about power, addiction, and deciding what kind of person you want to be in a family that has the ability to control everything you are.

When does gambling step over the line from entertainment to addiction? Gambling has moved from a sin and a vice to a past time and form of recreation. How does a family know when the entertainment has moved from a hobby to a compulsion or addiction? This audiobook will explore the history and trends of gambling addiction.

Like the never-ending war on terror, the drugs war is a multi-billion-dollar industry that won’t go down without a fight. Pills, Powder, and Smoke explains why. The war on drugs has been official American policy since the 1970s, with the UK, Europe and much of the world following suit. It is at best a failed policy, according to best-selling author Antony Loewenstein. Its direct results have included mass incarceration in the US, extreme violence in different parts of the world, the backing of dictatorships and surging drug addiction globally.

Protecting Your Children from Internet Pornography exposes the many ways that pornography is menacing people, relationships, society, and—especially—our children. Dr. John Foubert’s ability to write about complex concepts in practical terms will help you understand issues like how pornography affects the brain, how pornography is a recipe for sexual violence, and why you should take measures to protect your children and those you love. Foubert’s book opens the door and invites the listener to join the battle against porn with greater knowledge of its actual effects.

Marijuana, once considered worthy of condemnation, has in recent years become a "medicine", legalized fully in four states, with others expected to follow. But the dangers are clear. According to Bennett's research, more Americans are admitted to treatment facilities for marijuana use than for any other illegal drug. Studies have shown a link between marijuana use and abnormal brain structure and development.

Is drug addiction a disease that can be treated, or is it a crime that should be punished? In her probing study, Illness or Deviance?, Jennifer Murphy investigates the various perspectives on addiction, and how society has myriad ways of handling it - incarcerating some drug users while putting others in treatment. Illness or Deviance? highlights the confusion and contradictions about labeling addiction.

Martin Torgoff details the rise of early drug culture in America by weaving together the disparate elements that formed this new segment of the American fabric. Channeling his decades of writing experience, Torgoff connects the birth of jazz in New Orleans, the first drug laws, Louis Armstrong, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, swing, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, the Savoy Ballroom, Charlie Parker, the birth of bebop, the rise of the Beat Generation, and the launch of heroin in Harlem.

This is a guide to some of the most common and rare addictions in relation to human behavior.

When Eric Hofstein changed his career path, he didn’t expect to meet hundreds of lost souls, many of whom were desperate to be found. Here he shares what he learned about how the people he met became homeless, what kept them on the streets, and how to help them improve their lives. He learned what true harm reduction is and how to manage his expectations and not center himself in his outreach work.

This is a searing indictment of America's oil economy, in which Tamminen shows how demanding accountability could help pave the road to sustainable energy.

Drugs in sport are big news and the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport is common. Here, Chris Cooper, a top biochemist at the University of Essex, looks at the science behind drugs in sport. Using the performance of top athletes, Cooper begins by outlining the limits of human performance. Showing the basic problems of human biochemistry, physiology, and anatomy, he looks at what stops us running faster, throwing longer, or jumping higher. Using these evidence-based arguments he shows what the body can, and cannot, do.

Author Michael Pollan digs through decades of research and plays human guinea pig to illustrate the potential of psychedelics to alter the mind. Please note: This is a summary and analysis of the book and not the original book. If you'd like to purchase the original book, it is available from Amazon and Audible.

Finding Purpose and Meaning: Sally Survives Her Brief, Nasty Dance with Psychiatry is the third book of four in the Freedom from Addiction series. The character Sally is an addict who struggles with substance abuse. Her story delves into the dark realm of how addicts struggling with abstinence are inadvertently intoxicated when a psychiatrist prescribed drugs to help her cope with the underlying problems her substance abuse hid by using.

Deepwater Horizon was supposed to be the cutting edge of energy exploration: drilling 5,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, the $560 million rig would be indispensable in helping to solve the ongoing energy crisis. Then, on April 20, 2010, BP’s dismal safety record came home to roost.

There are as many diets and fads in today's health-conscious world as there are days in the year. They can be used for all sorts of reasons, not just weight loss, and it's true that many people will try one at some time in their life. It's also true that many will fail to lose any weight at all. One of the things which is often overlooked when someone is trying to combat things such as weight loss is the importance of amino acids, without which our bodies cannot survive.

Almost everyone is doing it. Aimlessly scrolling through their social media feeds. From presidents to the postmen, most people you know and probably even yourself. Mindlessly, your fingers move across the screen, and content, from selfies to memes, flickers by at a blistering pace. Why is it that the screen sometimes seems more important than looking up and being present in real life? And what does it mean that more and more people are turning into so-called "Scroll Zombies"? Sven Rollenhagen thoughtfully discusses social media use and how it affects us both psychologically and physically.

Neither Washington DC, Wall Street, Mexico, China, the Feds, nor the media are the cause of our problems - nor are they the cure. What happens after all the bogeymen have been vanquished? What if opposing the incompetence of the European Union, the biases of the American media, the corruption of crony capitalism, the arrogance of political power brokers, and allegedly unfair global trade deals is not enough? The key to American prosperity in this new era of populism is for moral people to make responsibility matter again by renewing personal virtue.