I am looking for discussion questions for my book club.

I just finished Dreamland. I wanted to read it because I grew up in SE Ohio. I am the director of a mental health center that also provides substance abuse treatment in Ashland Ohio. Throughout the book I kept wondering what the response of the churches in Portsmouth had been. Thank you for so vividly and inspirationally reporting that in section 5. Thank you too, for this detailed and authentic account of the opioid epidemic. I learned a great deal and am looking at addiction with a more informed perspective.

Just finished your book, could not put it down. So well written. Just fascinating how so many pieces came together and just exploded. My son is in 8th grade and I would tell him about how the events unfolded and he too wanted to read the book. Should be required reading for students. I hope someone offers you a movie deal, only for the simple fact that a movie will reach more people. So important that its understood how this happened.

Mr. Quinones,
My monthly book club chose your book to read this month (April). I have been searching the internet for book club questions, would you be able to provide us with any? Your book has been a wonderful read, informative and unfortunately to true to life. Where we currently reside, there have been far too many overdoses than I care to recall. This wasn’t happening 15-20 years ago.

I lived in Portsmouth from 1953 to 1971. Greatest years of my life going off the big dive platform. Playing football for PHS. and watch myDad work as a switchman for the N&W railroad. I could see the flood levee from my window and smell the river and I knew I was home.

OPIOID DEATH
• My Baby Girl’s Last Dream
She went to the Hospital on June 10th. She was transported by ambulance with her
back hurt. She came home the next morning extremely groggy and tired told her
boyfriend she would make him some breakfast but burned it accidentally. She
told him she was just too sleepy and tired wanted to take a shower and go to
bed. She took her shower and went in and lay across her bed and went to sleep.
They say she died sometime that night. They pronounced her death one minute
after midnight. They placed her on the gurney with the sheet over her face.
Her son had gone around behind everyone pulled the sheet down and begged her to
wake up. However, the oxycodone the hospital had given her caused the muscles
around her lungs to not function and she suffocated in her sleep. I’m her
father and wonder what her last dream must have been?

When I was called by my other daughter Mystee, all she could say was Jaimee
didn’t wake up Dad. She was crying so hard I could hardly understand her. I
then found myself calling my ex-wife who was mentally trying to handle the death
of her father and Randee her sister who just celebrated her Birthday. (Mystee’s
birthday June 14 / Randee’s birthday June 10th / Jaimee died June 12th). Jaimee was
cremated on June17 which is my wife and my Wedding Anniversary and we celebrated
Jaimee’s Life on Sunday 19th which is Fathers Day.

I find myself thinking about Jaimee’s last conversation with me. I was watching
the Warriors and the Cleveland Caveliers playing in the finals 2016. Being from
Ohio I could hardly be drawn into a conversation but this conversation was
funny. We laughed at each other’s ignorance for not remembering whose Birthday
it was because Randee and Mystee her sisters were born in the same month.
Randee was born June 10th and Mystee was born June 14th and Jaimee had her last
Dream on June 12th.

So I found myself trying to get ready to fly out of Phoenix, Arizona to the
State of Washington. It was very hard because all my ex-wife’s family called
until I just couldn’t take any more calls. So I got on a plane leaving my
current wife wondering how this was going to affect me knowing that I would
cremate my Baby on our Wedding Anniversary and how I would handle Fathers Day
the same Day of the ‘Celebration of Jaimee’s Life’. So two Birthdays, Wedding
Anniversary, my Daughters Death, her Cremation on my Wedding Anniversary and
Celebrating Father’s Day on the Day of Celebration of Jaimee’s Life all in one
week. I thought I knew pain when I lost both my parents in 1986 in a traffic
accident going to Church. This pain was not even describable.

I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the young lady who sat beside me on the
plane. I had not cried yet and it was a long flight. I was reading some
literature on Why Love One’s Die and how to handle it. We were about an hour
away from Washington Airport when she commented on my literature. I shared with
her my LoVe for my Daughter and three Grandchildren who were teenagers and still
under age living at home. She started to cry reached over held me, kissed me on
the forehead and told me she would have loved to have a Father like me. I felt
myself starting to cry and my love for this young stranger who even offered me a
ride to where ever I needed was the kindness I needed at the right time.
Thank You Young Lady…

It’s important to note that when I arrived in Washington my ex-wife, her husband
and my daughter Randee picked me up at the airport and decided to tell me that
charges were filed against my dead daughters Ex-husband (sexually abuse/contact
with all three Grand Children). He was caught cheating and they had divorced
months before her death. More pain I couldn’t deal with it and chose not to
talk about this at the time, However he was arrested in Phoenix, Arizona
January of this year 2017 and sent back to Washington jail awaiting trial. I
guess that’s when I finally accepted what you never want to believe.

I will not tell you the pain trying to celebrate my wife and I Anniversary, but
my wife and I did go out for our Anniversary the very day we cremated my
daughter. We had rented a car and my mind was never on the movie but when we
went to 31 Flavors I decided to order Jaimee’s favorite ice cream Strawberry.
Jaimee would have laughed at me when the girl told me they were out of that
flavor. I ordered another flavor and my wife and I sat in the car on a cold wet
night in Washington with the heater on and ate our ice cream. I continued to
hold back the pain and tears. It was hard enough for us to go back to the
apartment where the Grandchildren were waiting and listen to them cry every
night in their beds.

Now I didn’t want an autopsy but my ex-wife had told me before the flight that
the kids wanted to know what happened to their Mom. I told my ex-wife she
should respect the Grandchildren’s wishes. I was a little surprised these
children who were just teenagers would ask that information. I felt it was
important to give them whatever they wished for and so they did an autopsy and a
toxicology report. A report that wouldn’t be finished until the end of August
with a shocking answer on what the Hospital had done… No Father should ever read
an autopsy that shows one lung weight more than the other, how much the brain
weighted and how much her heart weighted. I knew she had tattooed, “Daddy’s
Girl on her left leg” but I got a little mad at her for the tongue piercing.

At the end of August beginning of September the Autopsy and Toxicology report
was done and showed that the opioid – (oxycodone) was 0.36 mg/L and
Lorazepam0.077 mg/L. The Lorazepam would have been the mild anxiety medication
she took 1 – 3 per day as needed. The Oxycodone was given to her by the Hospital
and she was release some time later. Alex her boyfriend remembered her taking
one Lorazepam that morning but nothing in the afternoon or evening before being
transported to the hospital with a back injury…

So she came home laid across the bed and suffocated.
I asked the Hospital for guidance and was told there was no problem getting the
records just fill out the form and fax over proof of who I was and that’s what I
did on 12.06.2016 at 1:41. She called me late that night and told me that she
had run it by legal and said that we needed my Grandson to fill out the same
report and requested the same Id. I look back now and think she was dropping
hints about a compromising position. She promised me that there were no problems
and there was no time statute. I told her because of the Holidays and Birthdays
I wouldn’t be able to re-fax everything until beginning of next year (2017). She
said not to worry that there was no time limit and so I faxed over everything
again on 05.31.2017 at 12:30 and was called and told they will not be giving me
the records and contact and attorney??

*****Hopefully you can help us get all Hospital records from Doctors and
hospitals…including video of her dysfunctional departure from the hospital and
past records with this hospital because she had gone to this hospital several
times . They knew her husband’s abuse and her taking Lorazepam that morning.

Thank You for allowing me to tell this story.
Jeff Turner
7323 N. 33rd Ave
Phoenix, Arizona 85051
602.795.1006
Jefft898@cox.net

Dear Mr. Quinones,
This book is everything! You nailed the opioid epidemic. I work for a Substance Abuse Agency in SC and see first hand every day the tragedy of substance use disorders. Your book opened my eyes to how America got to this point. I recommend this book to everyone.

I finally have gotten up the “nerve” to order the book. Coming from Portsmouth myself, it breaks my heart to know of so many individuals, some of those close to my heart, who have become part of the demise. My parents still live there.
I left in 1990 as a graduate of Notre Dame High School to attend Ohio State University. At that time pain killers were not sought out as a drug of choice more alcohol and marijuana. By the time my brother graduated ten years later it was rampant.
My parents were hippies and I grew up outside of a small town called Otway. It was a town where you knew everyone. Where you kept a tab at the general store and would pay it off on payday. Where the mail man would let you help put the mail in the PO boxes. Walking up and down the roads picking up bottles that you could get 10 cents for was something you did on Saturday’s.
I lived in a tent with two chickens and a dog while my parents built the one room cabin that built me. I didnt have electric, in door plumbing or running water until 5th grade when we finally moved out of the woods.
That was in the 70’s. I now live in Dublin Ohio(Muirfield) and have three beautiful girls one leaving for college.
One day my words will be written and my story published. Kids these days need to know real life Little House on the Prairie exists right before your eyes.
Thank you for taking the time to read a little of my story from Portsmouth as I spent a lot of time at DREAMLAND pool. I can tell you the feeling you got jumping off the high dive and laying out on the cement rest areas in the middle.
There will always be a piece of my heart in Portsmouth Ohio.

Sam, I am an Ohioan (your stories hit close to home) working with a non-profit organization, the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC), and would love to communicate with you regarding the possibility of speaking at our 2017 Annual Conference on Citizenship to be held October 19-20. It will focus on closing the opportunity gap as described by Robert Putnam in his work coming out of his Kids in Crisis book and work. Putnam will provide a keynote address. It is impossible to discuss closing this gap without recognizing causative factors and you describe the most blatant cause. NCoC’s 10 year research studying civic heath confirms to me that there are effective approaches to getting on track to solve this horrendous problem. Thank you for your years of investigation and brilliant writing! I look forward to hearing from you.

Dear Mr. Quinones,

Thank you for telling the compelling and heartbreaking story of the opioid use disorder and overdose epidemic and for giving us a glimmer of hope that together we can turn the tide. Thank you for all you are doing to give voice to those who are struggling and to speak truth to those of us who have been indifferent or even hostile toward those whose lives have been shattered by opioid addiction.

God bless you!

Mr. Quinones,

I am a Chaplain Resident at a teaching hospital/Level I trauma Center in N.C. working with the substance use disorder patients. Based on your investigation and work, do you have thoughts as to where or how pastoral/chaplain care or intervention might be effective in addressing this epidemic? Spirituality is a key component in the majority of various “steps”
recovery programs. I would like to think earlier spiritual contact and support might be helpful but I am puzzling on what that would look like on the ground or how it might be done. Thank you for your work, and any ideas you, or you readers, might have. Peace, and blessings, tom nesbit

Good evening Sam how are you doing my name is basimah I live in upstate New York I just ran across your book on line and I’m going too see if Barnes and noble have it tommorow my husband been away 30 years and he addicted too herion behind the wall we just got married 5months ago he never told me he was addicted to drugs sir I’m pretty much heartbroken sir and lost for words I’m looking for answers on why his attitude is very nasty and not becoming I have not took his phone calls nothing I’m pretty much lost sir I really don’t know what too say with something like this sir can you please help me Barnes and noble got one book on the shelf I will be there in the morning too get it. Thank you for your time and patience sir

Sam, I felt like you nailed it with the way you put your research together. I live in Kentucky only about 70 miles from Portsmouth . I was just curious if you were familiar with the 2002 murder of Pulaski County Sheriff Sam Catron. The trigger man was an OxyContin addict. I did a couple years worth of in depth research on the whole thing.

Mr. Quinones: I liked your book, although it is depressing. But that is the real world. I live in Guatemala, and I know that they also grow the poppy seed here in the mountains in the west part of the country, border with México. I wonder where do they process their products. Do they have labs in here? I just wondered if you did research on that. Also I wondered how these Nayarit guys got to pass the border to the US so easily. I know it is not easy for illegal persons.
On another subject, I have read comments on your book that patients that suffer from chronic pain will be limited because they will have a limited access to the drugs they need, on account of all these addicts. The same happened here in Guatemala; pseudoephedrin was retired from the market because it was used to cook methanphetamine, and the patiens suffering from bronchial spasm, allergic rinnitis, etc., could no longer obtain the drug for their illness. The substitute approved, phenilefrine, was not as strong as pseudoephedrin to dilate the bronchia. I am a pharmacist, and I witnessed myself when those products were retired from the pharmacies in this country.
A very interesting issue, congratulations for your work.

Dear Mr Quinones ,
Your book is a MUST read for every parent , physician , health care professional , educator , politician .
One must be informed , not blind to avoid an evil by being aware of how that evil manipulates , stealthily manifests like a cancer .

Dear Mr Quinones
I find it strange that my comments didn’t pass moderators standard. I understand you lost a son to overdose and nothing can take that hole in your heart away. Your book bores me and the fact that you depend on the government and internet for a majority of your theme, you fail to address how fucked up it is to live with pain. Your book is boring, with all due respect. Kolodny is a self serving shrink. Support PROMPT and Dr Fudin
Veterans and Americans united for equality in health care.( Not your enemy)

For the record, I support methadone maintenance therapy as well as buprinorphine, for whom that molecule is beneficial. Pain management is not one size fits all and neither is addiction medicine. The toughest demographic in treating opiate abuse ( do not believe in ” opioid use disorder”) are addicts whose pain issues must me addressed concurrently.
How can you deny a 70 yr old coal miner from Virginia with multiple ailments from some pain relief? I urge everyone to take part in the pain conversation. If you haven’t had the opportunity….pain will come for you… Sooner or later.
Veterans and Americans United for Equality in Health Care. Support PROMPT! / Dr Jeffery Fudin/ Dr Forest Tennant and citizens’ fundamental right to ” Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Mr. Quinones,
Thank you for writing this readable and informative book about the opiate crisis in this country. I am an addiction psychologist in Northeast Ohio. As you so accurately describe in the book, our area has been hit hard by the opiate epidemic. What is beyond troubling now is the deadliness of the heroin on the street, now that we are seeing it mixed with fentanyl and now increasingly, carfentanil. There are so many unanswered questions about fentanyl and carfentanil and I fear that we have only just begun to see the full impact. I’m curious if you have continued your research and investigation since writing Dreamland, to include this most recent facet of the opiate epidemic.
Since reading your book I have recommended it to patients and non-patients alike, and plan to include a review in our next patient alumni newsletter. Thank you for all of your hard work.
Best,
Ashley

Mr Quinones
At 41 I am back in school finishing my BSN. Upon taking an English composition II class our professor had us read and now the research begins. This book was difficult for me to read, as a mother, as a health care professional and as an addict with 6 year of recovery. Though my reality was never heroin, I can verify that OC was no walk in the park. Having zero other addictions that I know of, and still struggling everyday to remain on this path, opiates are the devil. I was on Vicodin for migraines 8 years then a rotator cuff surgery leading to Percocet and ultimately OC had me not only bankrupt myself but my whole family, bridges burnt and cannot be repaired Watching 2 young adults in my family die, isn’t even enough on those bad days I still currently have. Reading this book was just surreal. I have to agree 100% that “excess, avoidance, and the inability to deal with hard stress” – or even this world today is a constant struggle trying to stay clean . Narcotics anynomous was rough seeing people with many years relapsing some dying. I chose to remain on a low dose of suboxone yes even 6 years later to be safe. The reality of relapsing is just too real and this book was a hard reality for me. I have been to FL pill mills, mail order Docs, and pain management where eventually I did own up-
I have been encouraging many younger people to read this. Even my own children. Right now as i prepare my angle on your book, I have to say Perdue Pharma bothered me so much more than the Xalisco boys. In 2016 today I see this epidemic and zero solutions. I sympathize with those who were not as fortunate as I.
I just want to thank you for this eye opener. I believe every High Schooler should read. This drug should never be a reality but for so many it is. I have many issues with the unsympathetic who still demonize – or people who think they are above this, if you knew my background I would be the last one expected to fall on this. I pray that people even more change attitudes this is a real threat for our young esp in an age which parenting has changed so much. Thank you Thank you
I would love a sequel.
I somehow missed this on netgalley – I guess you can say NOW reading is my escape. Writing as well, but nothing has touched me as this book has.

Howdy Sam Quinones
I was recommended Dreamland from my teacher, mentor, at times editor & friend, miles Corwin.

Right out the gate I was in the thick of this tale. It was compelling, wove seamlessly thru different passages & the research blew my mind. Plan on now reading about the narcotic farm & the book called Plano y plata. I thought I might get lost in some of the medical passages , but I didn’t . You were able to keep it accessible as well as informative. And hell yeah…I had a million dealers named Angel & Jorge & chewy etc Reading about Nayarit & how the black tar stuck to small towns vs NYC Baltimore & LA made so many pieces come together for me. I’ve been reading a # of Charles bowdens books about Juarez as of late, now I can transition into your others

For many years, I literally actually was. In “the thick of it”
Strung out like a research monkey
Committed to dope 100%
Homeless hopeless heartless & all the goodies that glom onto the package that is addiction. I’ve been clean & sober for over 15 years now & while, yes, I am completely engaged with “life” I refuse to forget where My addiction took me. It’s a f….ing crazy long road back, and I retain the utmost respect for heroin & it’s power.
Even with a solid amount of clean time, & having accomplished some stuff in my sobriety I still feel a bit “affected” at times, and not the best “coper.”

Thank you for writing this book. I’ve suggested it to a wide range of folk. Nurses, friends, lawyers, librarians counselors etc

Almost a year ago I wrote a portion of my story & it was published on The Big Roundtable Heroin: A Love Story
Please read it if you have any interest & if you ever speak around here let me know
Again,
Stellar Job
Lisa

Out of pure coincidence I came across your book while I was researching something else online! I haven’t read your book yet but I plan on doing so because I don’t believe in coincidences I believe in miracles and God has been trying to reach me but with no avail! live in south Florida but Iam originally from Upstate New York . I was raised in a very loving family, my father and grandfather both were police officers , church every Sunday and so on and so forth!! This city in which I moved to is very different from where I grew up and I actually detest it, but continue to stay because of my immediate family being here!! I unfortunately got involved in the party scene which I may add is very easy to fall into in this transient place I now call home!! I did become an addict although the street drug I use is not as addictive as the opiates but all in all its still a drug! I have and still see many people (friends or fellow addicts) who switch their drug of choice to opiates and now black tar heroine. I see what they go through just to get another dose and it sadness me!! They get severely dope sick where I can just go to sleep for a couple days and all is well!! I just thank God I never tried the opiates! I also may add Iam a functioning addict that goes to work five or six days a week for 10 hours a day doing manual labor(Iam 47)-with that said Iam sure you can guess my drug of choice! It doesn’t matter what walk of life you come from-rich or poor, good or bad families once your hooked your hooked and it’s ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO GET CLEAN! I don’t have insurance so I can’t enter a program at this time,-not to mention my family has no idea about my addiction and I don’t plan on telling them because my family would be crushed!! I love and respect them to much to let them know! I also have to work to make my car payment , car insurance, and my rent(south Florida is not cheap to live by any means)! All the rehabs are in south Florida and the most drugs are also here (just about on every street corner ) and some right in your face , like these pill mills. I never heard of such a thing until I moved to South Florida! ! Doctors do not own these absurd places but it wouldn’t matter if they did because for the right price you can get a doctor to right you a script for the opiates! The police just add to the conflict-they keep arresting addicts and not the source of the problem which would be the doctors writing the scripts!! My speculation of why this is happening is very simple -they have money to afford an attorney to get them out of trouble!! Let’s face it the state attorney doesn’t want a loss under their belt it looks bad so they keep the vicious cycle going and keep on arresting the addicts-its PURE STUPIDITY AND MAKES NO SENSE!! Picture this-you are dope sick , you score some dope, you get caught, and are arrested -now you are a felon! On top of the felony your an addict so maybe you can work at Burger King (if your lucky making minimum wage) you need a lawyer cause the public pretender doesn’t give a shit about you, you don’t have a car to get to court or if you get probation to go to the classes and handle this mess you got yourself into so now a warrant is issued and the process starts again!! All this B.S. just adds to the stress in your life of just being an addict and then it’s like F___ck it lets get high and forget about all this drama!! I have seen it time and time again! It’s easier to keep getting high and live on another addicts couch and continue on the path to your demise!! This county likes this system it makes money for them -with all the court fees you pay, then all the money they receive from the state for each person who is an inmate, it gives people jobs etc. etc. You know what they feed you in jail- packets of peanut butter (that’s not Peter Pan)and tap water!! Iam sure the money they are given per person in jail is a lot more than the food they feed you!! The criminal justice system is a VERY WEALTHY CORPORATION!! I unfortunately was arrested once for possession but got it thrown out!! I was housed over night in Browsrd County and let me tell you the facility and its workers are deplorable. The sheriffs that work in the jail are ignorant (and that’s being nice)! The uneducated personnel act worse than the inmates and please excuse my reference but they are completely GHETTO, MISERABLE AND NASTY!! Hello people last time I checked we didn’t arrest people who had cancer right? WELL ADDICTION IS A DISEASE JUST LIKE CANCER ! It’s not helping by arresting them it only worsens their problems!! Contrary to what you already assume-addicts do not commit heinous crimes!! I have just finished reading a statistical criminal justice book that did a study on criminal behavior and it stated that a very small percent actually steal!! When they do steal it’s from their friends, the drug dealer or their family but they don’t commit armed robbery or burglaries or homicides!! Usually when they get their dope they are relaxed,happy(so they think) and peaceful -it’s when they run out of their dope that they turn into the demon!! lol Thank you for writing this book and acknowledging this atrocity!! Hopefully there is a greater understanding of this epidemic and proper care will be taken when making legislation regarding pharmaceutical companies, doctors and their scripts, medical care for anyone with any type of disease including addiction(even with no insurance) and our corporate criminal justice system!!

I have been a counselor in a methadone clinic now for about ten years. During this time I may have had half a dozen heroin addicts on my caseload of 50. Most did not stay more than a week or so because they could not get there dose up high enough fast enough, not wanting to be dope sick they went back to heroin. Now as of 08/22/16, in the last 6 months I have had at-least 6 clients, younger individuals male any female who have been injecting black tar 2-3 grams a day! Some have run here to Tyler Texas, from other parts of the country, the North East and some from Arizona basically for fear of their lives because of the number of fellow addicts that have OD’ed. The difficulty in getting prescription opiates has created this renewal. I have no answer to be sure, just feels that this is going in the wrong direction. Trying to find a way to use the information in your book to present in my groups and wish you would do a short documentary on the information that could be used as a tool. Thanks for all the hard work!

Andy

Oh, and I spent many, many days during my teen years at Dreamland swimming pool.

I lived a little north of Portsmouth, but I do consider it my hometown. I have been away since high school graduation, because when the steel mill left, the town fell apart somewhat due to the short sighted town officials, like the people who owned the biggest department store, Martings. Things may be coming back slowly, but they could have been better. Cincinnati made it as a river town and so could have Portsmouth. Sad that folks turned to opiates as a way of dealing with the devistating poverty, and hopelessness. Thanks for the book .

I am thoroughly enjoying your book. It is absolutely fascinating and terrifying. Thank you so much for writing it. How are the Mexicans getting in and out of the US? Are they crossing borders illegally? In the book it seems like they just go back and forth easily. That seems unlikely though.

Thank you!

Mr. Quinones,

Congratulations on a superb book; one that richly deserves a Pulitzer Prize. I am a native of Scioto County and, even though I was a “hayseed” from one of the outlying farming communities, I still have fond memories of going “downtown” on Friday or Saturday night. If I may, I would like to make a couple of observations followed by a question. I hope that you will bear with me.

I truly hope that Portsmouth is, indeed, “rising from the rubble”. However, I believe that the jury is still out. It is true that strides have been made in the “river cities” of Portsmouth, Ashland Kentucky, Ironton, Ohio and Huntington, West Virginia. However, for every step forward, there seems to be a corresponding step backward (or worse). For example, a few weeks ago it was announced that the former mansion of Dr. David Proctor had been converted to a drug rehab center; certainly something to be celebrated. However, in the same week, the Ashland newspaper reported that overdose-related fatalities in Boyd County (Ashland) had nearly doubled over the previous year. The drug-related violence goes on unabated. The entire nation learned about the savage execution of eight people in Pike County, Ohio (immediately north of Scioto County) but, just this year, there have been two double homicides in Scioto County (one solved and the other unsolved) along with numerous shootings and stabbings. On one weekend alone (in April), according to the Portsmouth Times, there were twelve overdoses with one fatality. Even previous success stories, such as the creation of SOLACE, have been tainted by the news that the founder of the organization has been banned from it due to alleged financial improprieties.

At times, I have believed that there seems to be some sort of “self-destruct molecule” at play here. In your book you alluded to negativity of the Portsmouth city government. Sadly, this attitude is still prevalent. Even though, Portsmouth did change to a City Manager form of government, the petty bickering continues; except now the bickering is between the City Council and the City Manager instead of the Mayor.

I could not agree with you more that one antidote to heroin (or any drug, for that matter) is community. However, it is difficult, if not impossible, to create and sustain that community when the economic underpinnings of that community are continually being kicked out from under it. For example, the Ashland community is still reeling from the hundreds of jobs that were lost when AK Steel downsized because of competition from cheap foreign steel. In addition, both Democrats and Republicans were stunned when the Democratic nominee for President stated (to her wildly cheering audience), “We’re going to put a lot of coal miners out of work”. Of course, by implication, she was also saying, “We’re also going to put a lot of railroad employees and the businesses that are tied to coal out of business.” In fact, that is already happening: in January, CSX Railways eliminated over 120 jobs in Huntington and two months ago over 100 railroad jobs in Russell, Kentucky were chopped. Needless to say, other businesses, that depend on the mines and railroads will cut back or close. Whether one believes in climate change or not, the fact is that Appalachia will bear the brunt of these environmental and trade policies. Again, it’s tough to sustain a community in the face of this sort of adversity.

I truly love this region. Although I left it in 1965, one day after I graduated from high school, I never doubted that I would come back. My wife and I moved back here shortly after we retired nearly four years ago. I occasionally run into an acquaintance from my childhood and, usually, they will ask, “Why in the world did you want to come back here? It’s an easy answer for me: because it’s HOME. It’s because of that I am sickened and angered at what my community has become. Again, I am truly hopeful that my community can “rise from the rubble”.

I hope you are still with me because I do have a question. In your book, you give only a passing reference to methamphetamines. I have always believed, perhaps mistakenly, that Crystal Meth is part of the “axis of evil” (the others being OxyContin and black tar heroin) that have ravaged our community. Scarcely a day goes by that a meth lab is not found or a “Meth Head” overdoses (sometimes fatally). Perhaps methamphetamines were just outside the scope of your book and that’s fine. However, do you believe that the Crystal Meth problem is just a by-product of the OxyContin epidemic? From your research, do you believe that the “molecule” in Crystal Meth is identical to that found in OxyContin and Black Tar Heroin? Just curious.

Once again, this was just a fantastic book. Best wishes for your continued success.

I found your book while doing a search for Dr Proctor who was the godfather of pill mills in my hometown. I’m from South Shore, KY, across the river from Portsmouth, OH. I wanted people reading this to know that Dr. Proctor’s previous million dollar home, the one he built and maintained with money earned turning so many into
addicts, was bought by Pinnacle Treatmemt Center/Recovery Works and is being turned into a 32 bed inpatient rehabilitation facility – a place of healing for addicts and families alike. An ironic twist I think. As a member of this community who has been directly impacted by addiction, whose first ever pain pill was from Dr. Proctor, I pray that this new rehab becomes a becon of hope for a community in recovery.

Now that I’ve found your book, I’m ordering it. I look forward to reading an outsiders take on what I’ve seen from the inside. The ones affected have been people I love. But I know our stories are just one of millions. Our nation needs healing from this epidemic. Thank for telling this story!

BTW I use to ride with my cousin in the back of our dads pickup truck across the river to Dreamland pool. Great childhood memories!

Mr. Quinones,
I’m am just finishing your book and I wish I could get everyone I know to read it. There is so much to be learned from past mistakes and hopefully a brighter future for treatment soon! If you are ever in the Boston area I would love to have you speak at the Winthrop Public Library, which is very close Boston. This community is extremely committed to battling the current epidemic and they would be a very willing audience for this information.
Thank you for writing this and getting the word out there. Best, Diane

After continuous attempts at rehab, we lost our 27-year old son to a drug overdose on December 12, 2015. Nothing helpful in our area (Charleston, WV), so we repeatedly sent him to a facility in Boca Raton, FL. He would have about 3 months of sobriety before the demons would re-surface. I believe if addicts could receive an entire year of treatment before being pushed back into society, it would enable the brain to heal. There is an academy with locations in Phoenix, Seattle and Canada that has adopted this protocol….one-year inpatient therapy, counseling, etc…..one-year preparing the individual for coping/working in today’s society. Most addicts have an underlying dual diagnosis that goes untreated during the detox/rehab process…..then they are forced into a menial/stressful job that oftentimes results in relapse. So many of our young are being lost to this epidemic, as their families endure the stigma of unsympathetic medical professionals that haven’t a clue how to treat addiction as a relapsing/recurring disease. I am currently reading Dreamland and looking forward to your visit to Charleston, WV on February 29.

I am a professor at Bergen Community College in Paramus, NJ, an area which has seen a surge in deaths due to heroin overdose. These deaths are not those of the “stereotypical addict” but are upper middle class young adults who are using. Last semester we used the book in a course that I taught (Composition 1) and a course taught by a biology professor – she looked at the biological issues and I looked at the arguments/analysis. The book proved to be incredibly important as we had numerous students come to us describing either their own addiction, or that of friends. In fact, in March we held an all day conference and the father of one of our deceased students was the keynote.

This semester I will be teaching your book to four sections of Composition 1 (approximately 80 students). Thank you, thank you, thank you for writing a book that informs, teaches and inspires.

I cannot wait to read this, I witnessed so much of this from what I have read on line. It will be interesting if the book lines up with what the locals suspected.

Thank you for writing this most important book. I learned so much. I lost my boyfriend to addiction and this book was very enlightening.

Hello, Sam
I’ve scheduled DREAMLAND as our bookclub’s March 2016 read. I was looking for discussion questions on line. Some books have them. I don’t remember seeing any with your hard copy book (local library copy).
What would you suggest? What questions do you see NOT addressed in the on line comment conversations?
I was surprised by the group’s reaction. They mainly like good stories/novels. I think this is a rare “info issue” type book. I was also surprised by some who really jumped on this opportunity. Their stories have found a place to be told as they contain “drug” related issues of family/children.
I’ve contacted you before in regards to our son Patrick’s death in 2009 and the coincidental ON POINT interview in Jan. of 2010 and the OREGONIAN’s article about his death at the same time. I do plan on putting a copy of your book along with the news article with his belongings.
Sorry about the 60 minutes program slight.

I just ordered your book on amazon and thank you for writing it. My life changed when Dr Art Van Zee kindly called me in Florida to help me understand what my son and I were up against years ago.. That also put me in contact with Dr. Kolodny and Pete Jackson, all heroes to me. This public health tragedy has struck our small town in the Daytona Beach area. And now with the help of the state of Florida even fewer treatment beds and options will be available. This has been the worst thing that ever happened to me and destroyed my son who is currently in sober living facility which will not allow medication assisted treatment. Someone needs to blow up the myth of standard treatment relying solely on 12 step abstinence programs. Another book possibly?