ON OPIUM Pain, Pleasure, and Other Matters of Substance

Christine Horne narrates the author's experiences with an especially painful form of arthritis and the process by which she obtains the prescription pain medications that make quality of life possible for her. Horne is mostly restrained as Zwarenstein tells of her struggles with pain and addiction. In a sympathetic, often angry tone, Horne also recounts the hardships of those who use drugs illicitly, in particular fentanyl addicts, and challenges listeners to rethink their positions regarding the war on drugs. Listeners might wish to skip the extensive appendices that bog down with recitations of web addresses. But Horne's performance of Zwarenstein's call for less dehumanizing ways of treating those who are caught up in addiction--for whatever reason--is worth hearing. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2022]