Drugs Books

As the spouse of an alcoholic in the late stages of the disease, I found this book to be a great resource. I finally saw into the mind of the alcoholic-the pain, the low self-esteem, the mental disorders that develop. My alcoholic is in complete denial, but I find great hope from this book and by learning more about the disease I am better able to detach and feel more compassion for my spouse. Other books just didn't reach me this way.

I haven't finished the book yet, I keep reading Chapter 2 over and over "the alcoholic mind"...A great first book for those interested recovery.

Material for the book has been very, very extensive researched. The book is extremely comprehensive and well written. It is the best book I have found on this subject. I thought it was written about me personally.

Although I have never met the author of this book, I felt as though I had. I, myself, have experienced the same feelings of desperation and remorse and finally was able to find the path of hope to a truly meaningful way of life. I would suggest this book, not only to the person who questions whether or not he/she is an alcoholic, or even to the person is 100% sure. I would suggest it to anyone who been affected by the disease, and is in search of answers to questions that baffle us all. Thanks to the author for helping me to be a little more honest with myself.

The book is extremely comprehensive and well written, the best I have found on this subject. Its material has been very extensively researched. I am grateful to Dale for chapter two that provided me with a personal introspect of "The Alcoholic Mind", it helped tremendously to understand where all this came from in me, and for what I will always need to be on guard.

The collaborative work of Gary Stromberg & Jane Merrill, The Harder They Fall: Celebrities Tell Their Real-Life Stories Of Addiction And Recovery is a compendium of autobiographical accounts of self-help and recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction told by a range of readily recognized men and women who range from singer and songwriter Paul Williams, to comedian Richard Pryor, to actor Malcom McDowell, to musician Alice Cooper, to U.S. Congressman Jim Ramstad, and sixteen others. All of these stories are revealed with candor, insight, humor, humility, and hope. The Harder They Fall is a unique anthology and should be available to everyone (especially those struggling with their own addictions) in the community through their local public library.

It seems like you can't pick up a newspaper or turn on a television without hearing of some new celebrity being involved with drugs. Why with all of their success does it take drugs for them to get through their lives? And in the news you don't hear about followups. What happens to these people after they get out of their court ordered treatment (or jail)?

In this book the authors have managed to get an extraordinary collection of people to talk about their lives under drugs and how they were able to beat their habbit. In each case it was clearly a struggle, it was not easy, but they managed.

I say the collection of people is extraordinary because it contains far more than just the musicians that seem to get all the press. It includes sports figures, writers, comedians, and actors. The stories leave me with a feeling of both sadness and hope. That these people can not only accomplish what they did but that they are now will to share their experiences with the rest of us speaks great things about them.

Highly recommended.

Gary Stromberg really tells some very compelling stories of some of the biggest names in pop culture. This book offers hope, some laughs and great insights into an insidious disease that effects millions. I highly recommend this book!

Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (2/06)

In "The Harder They Fall," publicist Gary Stromberg and author Jane Merrill write stories about twenty-one celebrities and their experiences with addictions. Stromberg begins with his own story about how he got addicted and how hard he had to hit bottom before he could climb up on top again.

What really made this book refreshing is that the stories are written about celebrities from a variety of walks of life. They are not just movie stars or musicians, they are also athletes, politicians, writers and even a cowboy. In spite of the difference in their backgrounds, a common thread runs through the lives of these people. The substance abuse usually began as they became famous. Some of these people even thought that they could use the drugs or alcohol as their muses. As they crashed and burned, they had to go into recovery. In most cases, there were relapses. Then the real healing began and as they healed their inner selves, they made peace with their demons and found a better way to live.

This book is really well written. The first thought that came to my mind as I was reading it, was that, "This is a really good book." That is a simple statement, and I know that the authors could have phrased it much better because they write so well, but the bottom line is, I really enjoyed this book.

People who are interested in stories about celebrities will enjoy it. But, I think that a person struggling with an addiction or a person who knows someone close to them that is struggling with an addiction will get the most out of these stories. The reason I feel this is because that the underlying theme is one of hope. These people hit bottom and in many cases they also had to deal with the humiliation of having the public involved in their private lives. But they manage to overcome their addictions and rise above them to become even better, stronger people than they were before.

The authors also mention celebrities that they would have liked to include in the book, but were unable to, because they are dead as a result of their substance abuse. The most famous one was Elvis. The chapter mentioning these people provides a sobering eye opener to what can happen if you do not go into recovery.

Mariette Hartley ends her story with a powerful quote from a woman that was her spiritual advisor, "One's deepest wounds, integrated, become one's greatest powers." This quote sums up the outcome of people that survive addiction and make it through recovery. I highly recommend this book.

You don't have to be interested in reading celebrity stories to enjoy this book. I highly recommend it. I found the book really hard to put down. Because there are so many great short stories, I was able to get a broad view of the disease's nature. Also, I am very impressed with the honesty and vulnerability of the people who shared their stories. They are very human, beautiful and courageous.

The title is somewhat misleading because this book does not deal with back pain caused by herniated discs, spinal canal stenosis, and other problems that are definitively diagnosed by your doctor(s). This book focuses on one possible cause of low back pain - pelvic tilt syndrome, which means either your left or right hip bone is situated slightly higher than the other. The treatment is to insert a heel lift in your shoes to make your pelvis level and to perform specific exercises. The author says many doctors don't know about this problem. If your doctor doesn't know what's causing your back pain, then this book might be useful in determining if you have this problem.

Informatively written by Harry S. Oxenhandler (a medical doctor skilled in the treatment of chronic pain), The Humpty Dumpty Syndrome: Life Yourself From Back Pain Without Drugs Or Surgery cogently advises readers on how they can effectively combat chronic back pain. Addressing the problems of pelvic tilt/short leg syndrome and how they can easily be corrected; side effects of "lift" therapy, recommended exercises; and a great deal more, The Humpty Dumpty Syndrome is recommended as a "must-read" do-it-yourself reference for anyone suffering the ill effects of chronic back pain.

One of the most common medical complaints today is about back problems. From people who just suffer through the pain to those who visit the chiropractor weekly to those who try to resolve the problems through physical therapy or surgery. In "The Humpty Dumpty Syndrome" author Harry Oxenhandler points out that many lower back pain problems are related to pelvic tilt. The book goes over pelvic tilt in great detail. Chapters cover the types of x-rays used to diagnose it, how to read the x-rays, how lift therapy helps the condition, exercises that can help alleviate the problem, and many other aspects of pelvic tilt. The focus of the book seems to be a combination of teaching the reader about pelvic tilt and preparing the reader to be able to discuss it with their doctor. If you are experiencing problems with your back you may find a solution to your problems in this book. "The Humpty Dumpty Syndrome" is a highly recommended read for its educational value in helping people understand lower back problems.

Ways to heal chronic lower back pain without drugs or surgery.

If you've ever realized that one of your legs is shorter than the other then this book is for you.

Dr. Harry Oxenhandler explains what ails us with diagrams, x-rays & dashes of humor. If you are plagued by lower back problems & know there's something other than drugs & scalpels -- then Rebeccasreads recommends THE HUMPTY-DUMPTY SYNDROME for a gentler path to health!

I've suffered from lower back pain from years and it seemed to be getting progressively worse, regardless of many visits to several chiropractors and physical therapists. Last year, I finally went to Dr. Harry Oxenhandler for help, and he has turned things around for me. This book encapsulates his approach to diagnosis and non-surgical treatment of a heretofore unappreciated but apparently very common back problem. If you've had little or no success with other approaches, this may be the one for you. If you're a physician frustrated by your limited ability to offer real relief to patients with lower back pain, this is the book for you. It emphasizes straightforward diagnostic techniques and self-therapy through stretching. It's all here.

Very extensive and detailed information about all drugs . It's all you need to prescribe a drug with safety.
The appendix section contains very useful information of clinical and basic laboratory values
It's the most complete and specific book I have ever seen about pediatric drug prescription
I love it

This is a great source to have access to (especially if you're looking up pediatric drugs at home and don't have access to UptoDate or Micromedex). It is a thorough reference. The major down-side is that it lacks an index for generic/trade names. Maybe it's there and I still haven't found it, but this is a problem when one is trying to quick reference a drug. Nevertheless, I haven't found a superior drug reference in a readily available book in pediatrics (online, I'd say Micromedex is even more complete, but in a book, this is the best). Also, for neonatal dosing, I would prefer Neofax.

This book is comprehensive for pediatric clinicians. Format is easy to use and very through information.

I'm loving the detail and information given for each medication. It is a great resource for me. I have gone through and marked my commonly used medications for easy reference.

This book is very handy in helping you calculating pediatric doses for common over the counter products as well as prescription drugs. The more popular databases for drug at times do not include some of the common over the counter products so this is very helpful for that. It also offers a comprehensive description of the product including contraindications and cautions. It also includes very helpful appendices which deal with the not so common conditions seen in pediatrics.

Amy (AJ) Crowell has written a beautiful book that can be an inspiration to all people who think they are hopelessly addicted. Amy proves that addiction can be beaten. AJ is to be commended for baring her life to help others. Anyone who is struggling with addiction should read this book.

Sheryl Letzgus McGinnis, Author I Am Your Disease (The Many Faces of Addiction)

Not only is "Loved Back to Life" the journey of recovery and the process of recovery, but it is also the facts of addictions. Amy gives true facts about alcoholism and addictions directly relating to individuals, families and the nation. The book provides a sober reality of addiction and recovery that millions of people have gone through and their story is not told.

This is one of the first and only books that combine facts with the story. Every aspect of the addiction recovery process including depression, co-dependency, suicide, stigma, adolescent stages of addiction, and the truths about the recovery process are all explained in this book.

Amy also taps into the many roads of recovery such as 12 Step Programs, treatment, hospitalization, medical treatment, dual diagnosis and medication assisted recovery. This book will "Love Anyone Back to Life" who has been struggling with addiction/alcoholism.

I see this book being used in a variety of ways including schools, colleges, universities, treatment centers, behavioral health, hospitals and will assist therapists, counselors and doctors by guiding the process of educating others with the facts and recovery tools. This book is the wave of the future for the nation's healthcare providing behavioral health tools for addiction/alcoholism.

Loved Back to Life is solution oriented and provides personal suggestions to recovery from alcoholism/addiction. Every family member should have this book who has been challenged with alcoholism in their family. They will not only relate to the author, but will learn to express and share their own personal history.

After reading the book as the Executive Director of Association of Persons Affected by Addiction, a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor, Certified Acudetox Specialist, a Board Member of Voices & Faces of Recovery, and a Board Member for Mental Health America Texas, I highly recommend we help everyone be "Loved Back to Life" by reading and utilizing Amy 'AJ' Crowell's book to help individuals, family members, and the community on the road to recovery.

The best book to hit the shelves about the struggle thru addition into a productive life. It even has tips for parents who think that their children may be struggling as well as a self help test for the readers themselves. It was hard to put down.

Amy, your book is virtually an encyclopaedia of addiction. There is so much wonderful information and inspiration in 'Loved Back To Life', for addicts and non-addicts alike, including the self-tests in your book.
There was an interesting reference to a statistic,"Teenagers whose parents talk to them on a regular basis about the dangers of drug use are 42% less likely to use drugs than those whose parents do not."
That reference completely affirms for me that this is a topic no longer to be denied, and to be brought out in the open for discussion in our families and communities.
Your book provides great access to opening up that very important, and often avoided conversation. Being drunk and being alcoholic, are poles apart.
Your book is a must read for anyone with an addiction, or who knows someone who is addicted - to anything.
Thea Westra
Thought Leader And Author
www.forwardsteps.com.au

"Loved Back to Life" is a powerful, fascinating examination about the harsh realities of alcoholism and drug addiction.

AJ Crowell captivates the reader right from the beginning as she reveals her life story from childhood, through alcoholism, drug addiction and into recovery. Her own story is very compelling but she also utilizes the stories of other recovering alcoholics and shares their experience, strength and hope.

The chilling yet inspiring stories in this book are not only for those suffering from substance abuse, but for anyone who is dealing with a person in his life who suffers from addiction. Her goal is for readers to "acknowledge and reconsider the negative stigma that is attached to alcoholism, and understand how this bias often lingers even after an alcoholic is sober for years."

AJ also reveals how substance abusers will go to any length to hide their disease so that they appear normal on the outside. This book can definitely act as a guide to determine if someone you know may need help for his or her addictions.

Crowell's courage to not only survive but thrive is apparent as she guides the reader though her own recovery process. She clearly demonstrates the necessity of having a higher power, journaling, support group meetings, helping others, using mentors and several other valuable ideas. Recovery from the life threatening illness of addiction is a lifelong process and a recovering addict must always be working his program. It is a sad reality that a person with years of sobriety can relapse and die if she stops working her program.

The strength of Crowell's work is that she acknowledges the horrors of being addicted but shows the struggling addict that there is a way out. Her passion to recover and lead a joyful, meaningful life is very moving. She shows tremendous gratitude for her life in good times and bad and is determined to share her experience to benefit others. As the "Big Book of Alcoholic Anonymous" promises," she does not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it."

As a recovering alcoholic, Amy is the type of person I would love to have in my home recovery group. The unconditional love that she genuinely demonstrates for other people is heartwarming. Her life-time goal is to educate millions of people about alcoholism and drug addiction and "Loved Back to Life" is a wonderful start to fulfill her ambition.

Dr. Larry Smith D.C., B.P.E.
Author of Embracing the Journey of Recovery
http://embracingthejourneybook.com/

Did the Pharmaceutical Drug Cartel kill the attorney, Leonard Ring, to keep him away from the Wesbecker case? (p. 250)

Do the drug company shenanigans in the 1993 movie, "The Fugitive," parallel the cover-up in the Wesbecker case?

Reading this book can raise those questions.
It also exposes how the multibillion dollar Pharmaceutical Drug Cartel (PDC) exercises arbitrary and Fifth Column influence over the FDA, the NIMH and premiere medical and psychiatric journals and organizations, while shaping the perceptions of the lemming masses.

Read this book if you want to be awake and see the spiritual solutions

This is an important and highly readable account, by one of the world's leading authorities on the subject of psychiatric drugs, regarding the damage these drugs are capable of doing to the patients who take them. To tell his story, Breggin uses the personal case histories of patients who arrived at his doorstep only after being manhandled and abused by a drug-driven profession that has learned to see every mental and emotional struggle as treatable by prescription drug psych-meds alone. Some of these stories will horrify and sicken the reader, but no reader will ever forget them. The Chapter entitled "Drug-Induced `Happy Faces' is alone worth the purchase price.

Dr. Peter Breggin's ground-breaking and truth-telling new book, Medication Madness, is profoundly impacting in its focus on the dangerous side effects that can occur with psychotropic drugs. The one thing that the perpetrators of the many random appearing crimes such as the massacre at Columbine have in common is that they were taking SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) antidepressants. Dr. Breggin describes the spell-binding effects these, as well as other psychotropics, have on patients' minds. He documents many crimes where he has been an expert witness and the individual has been under the effects of involuntary intoxication.

This book is a necessity for every family's book shelf and should be a mainstay for every person who practices in any of the Mental Health Professions. It is a book that will also be enlightening for those who practice Mental Health Law. It addresses the myths regarding treatment with psychiatric medications. The evidence is clearly documented, indicating that taking such medications can be very harmful to patients and can devastate the lives of family members and friends who love and care for them.

Peter Breggin, M.D. is a Harvard-educated, main-stream psychiatrist and expert witness, who dares to proclaim that "the emperor has no clothes." He explodes the claim that those who are diagnosed with a mental illness must take medication to correct a chemical imbalance. Rather, taking such medications indeed induces a chemical imbalance in one's brain.

This book is written with clarity and empathy. It reads easily for both laymen and professionals.It truly may very well be the most important book written in this century about mood altering medications and the dire effects on the mental and physical health of those who take them. It is a must read for anyone who desires to be fully informed as to the consequences for those who take these drugs. Every professional and every consumer, potential consumer and psychiatric survivor has an invaluable resource in this book that "tells it all." I cannot overemphasize the importance of reading this important new work by the Conscience of Psychiatry, Dr. Peter Breggin.

Delores Jankovich, MA, LMSW
Overland Park, Kansas

For years, I have questioned how any mental health clinician could believe that psychotropic were safe or effective, with such a mountain of evidence showing that they are neither. In my practice, I have sat with many clients who were on psychiatric drugs; while none of them had really gotten better from them, so many of them seemed oblivious to this.

This book satisfies my question. They were "spellbound" by the drugs themselves: by the pharmacological properties of the drugs themselves and by the professionals who convinced them that the drugs were going to help.

It is easy to prove to an objective person that psychiatric drugs are unsafe and useless; the data are compelling, even overwhelming. But I now understand that the person taking these drugs is and cannot be objective about the drugs. This is quite helpful to me clinically.

I recommend ALL of Dr. Breggin's books; this is one of his most rigorously researched, persuasive, and conclusive yet.

Dr Peter Breggin has outdone himself. Medication Madness is a masterpiece.

There is probably no other psychiatrist in this country more knowledgeable about the lengths the drug companies will go to in order to profit off the sale of ineffective and harmful psychiatric drugs through the massive misdiagnosing of people as mentally ill.

Likewise, there is probably no other psychiatrist more knowledgeable about how far the same companies will go to cover up their wrongdoings when people are injured by their products.

Consequently, in Medication Madness Dr Beggin has provided the whole story of how the entire nation has been conned for the past 20 years and the resulting toll on human lives and society as a whole.

He leaves no stone unturned. Starting with the corruption involved in the clinical trials used to get the new generation of psychiatric drugs FDA approved to the recruitment of the so-called "opinion leaders" to publish bogus studies to sway the minds of prescribing physicians in every field of medicine to the victims left in the aftermath.

Some of the most damning chapters in the book give the details of how the legal system allowed the drug makers to keep the evidence of harm hidden for nearly two decades while they quietly settled cases out of court and made obscene profits off products they knew were causing great injury to millions of people.

This book should be required reading for not only consumers but for every doctor who is even thinking about prescribing psychiatric drugs.

Evelyn Pringle
Investigative Journalist
OpEd News columnist

This novel was written I believe in 1988. As it says in the back of the book, it took the author 7 years to write it. Much like Gone With The Wind, it came across to me as a once in a lifetime book and I guess this author has not written anything since. A real shame. As my title said, this was my second reading of this novel. The first perhaps at least 15 years ago. I think I even liked it more the second time. I read mostly at lunch time and while waiting for traffic to pass, so that I can get home as fast as possible. For this novel however, I kept on sneaking just another paragraph or two in between sales calls all day long and many times I had to reach for the hankerchief to wipe my eyes. I happen to love multi generational novels that take 30 to 100 years to play out such as Jeffrey Archer's "As the Crow Flies". This novel which starts in 1871 japan and goes to the end of WWII has everything that you would ever want in a novel. I would have to rate it as one of the best books that I have ever read. If you can find a copy buy it without haste.

This book was purchased for me by my DH. It is the best book I have ever read. The contents are historical and Richard must have done a tremendous amount of research in order to write this book. I could not put it down. I would highly recommend it.

This is my favorite book of all time. I borrowed it from a friend and read it years ago. I absolutely loved it, but a good friend always returns borrowed books! When I tried to buy it myself, I was told it was out of print. I was thinking about it recently and realized that I could probably find it on this site. Duh!!! Well, I just ordered it and cannot wait to receive and read it all over again and lend it to people who I know will appreciate it.

It's not just a story about love, it's about family, honor, sacrifice, friendship, culture and of course WWII from many different perspectives. I learned a lot, I laughed, I loved and I cried and when I was finished with this book, even though the ending was as happy as it could have been, I felt like I was losing my best friend. I remember when I was finished, I just sat in my room holding the book, silent in thought for almost an hour. Strange. It is a must read!!

I'm from Spain, so I read the book traslate to my languaje. That's no give me a good reality of the book, but buy it was my best idea. It've all for the lovers of japan culture and its peoples, in a dark time from the occidental culture. Richard McGill write like a big master.

I am very picky about what I read and only "go" into a storyline if it will increase my knowledge and thoroughly entertain me. This book did an exceptional job of both. I read Omamori about 5 years ago and picked it up again because I was out of good things to read (imagine that!). I knew very little about the effects of the war on Japan and loved "being there".

Whenever someone tells me they are in a reading, author or genre slump, I suggest this book. It is the best time I have ever had reading.

Jonathon Dobrer has an irreverent method of cutting to the heart of common and frequent misconceptions and misleading information. His way of playing devil's advocate while imparting knowledge to the reader is unique. He asks questions (most of us would like to ask but are too shy) and provides "dumb" answers--exactly what the average person gets when dealing with companies and their policies. This book is funny and thought provoking at the same time. I couldn't wait to read the next chapter and am looking forward to his next sojourn into the literary forest.

serious; funny; --> seriously funny.
so funny, i couldn't put it down.
seriously.

Jon Dobrer is an eminently sane and insightful writer. His wide-ranging, free-wheeling style reminds me of the funny, yet serious
non-fiction of Anne La Mott. He's an original thinker (so rare
these days) who doesnt shy away from the tough call, and whose
irreverance more than once made me wince in painful delight.

Like M*A*S*H* this book finds humor and laughter even in the tragic. And every laugh serves a serious purpose.

Jonathan Dobrer's newest collection of essays showcases his gift for extremely engaging, often humerous and always thought-provoking writing. Who can resist delving into an essay that seems to be a confession of a crime "I just got back from making a drug run to Mexico."? It's not a confession nor a crime--but I leave it to the next lucky reader to discover the truth! His essays explore and address seemingly insurmountable social concern; separation of church and state, Sept. 11, the situation in the middle east, corporate fraud, immigration, racism, and national security. And whether or not you may agree with his observations, these essays will make you think and rethink your own observations. These are essays born to spark lively group discussion. The essays here also show Jonathan Dobrer's strong ability to write deeply moving essays such as the one on the death of Daniel Pearl, delightful whimsical pieces such as "Murder Most Vowel" and local interest pieces such as "Irony-Free in Anaheim" that address the issue of immigration in an intelligent, straight-forward manner done so well it could apply to any community in the U.S. This book is a delight to read, talk about, and read again. I look forward to Jonathan Dobrer's next collection!

This story is hard to imagine anyone living through. Mr. Ladd's accomplishments are outstanding. This brings a reality to the reader that most people have no idea exists except those living it. This autobiography also shows the power of determination, attitude and self-reliance.

This should be inspiring and educational to young people especially but also to adults who can see the world from a young black man's perspective. Ladd allows us to walk in his shoes for a while; it is a privilege and a lesson.

The narrator for the audiocassette does an excellent job reading the book.

This story reminded me of "Finding Fish" by Antwoine Fisher, another great, inspiring story.

As a 24 yearold 1st yr. teacher in West Dallas I have been looking for answers. I work at the Middle School across from the projects referred to in this book. I am not too far from "Fishtrap", and the gangs (boyz) have changed from Ladd's time but only by the faces of their members. Some of the most infamous being my most delightful students. My kids are not like all of the others in America. They are different...special even and Jerrold Ladd told me why. As I read this book with every page I turned I anticipated that the "story" would get better. I prayed that his mother would change. I longed for the chapter when some long lost Great-Uncle from Georgia would come and take him from the reality of his torrid life. But it never happened. And I became frustarted because my students do not have anyone to rescue them from their realities, not for the long haul at least. Jerrold Ladd's book explained to me the generational frustaration that West Dallas incorporates. The resentment and struggle of blocks and blocks of people is the only thing this community truly owns. Ladd wrote the testament and explanation of a community's fear. His hopes and fears were evident on every page of this book. I only wish that my studenrs could take time from their troubles of hunger, fear, anger, and poverty to big up this reflection of possible positive self. Thank you for this invaluable tool of living and learning.

As a 24 yearold 1st year Teacher in West Dallas I have looked for reasons as to why my students (my kids) as I call them are the way they are. I teach eighth grade History at Thomas Edison Middle Learning Center which is located across the street from the projects referred to by Mr. Ladd. I can testify that all of my 109 students are the soul of Jerrold Ladd.

I have gone home frustrated many nights, crying myself to sleep distraught over what my kids must face at home from day to day after a long day at school. Mr. Ladd brought home the realities of my student lives. He pushed their questionable futures to the forefront of my classroom and by this Christmas I was sad to see them go. I was sad because I questioned how many of them would bathe without the motivation of not being ridiculed by mean classmates. I was sad because I wondered to what length one of my kids would go to pay his mother's rent, the same mother who stood in front of me and her precious son parent-confrence night and stated how he was a waste of 13 years.

As I turned the pages of this book I waited with each page for Mr. Ladd's situation to get better. Similarly, as I come to work everyday I look for my kids situation to get better. In the final ten to twelve pages of this testament to the community of West Dallas I finally saw inspiration and hope, however I shudder to think how long it will take the children of West Dallas to see the same thing.

Jerrold Ladd thank you for this guide into the minds of my babies. It is a invaluable tool.

I am a freshman student at my high school, and was assigned to a book report... I then choose this book, yet not out of wantingness, but just to get something and be done with it. When I started this book, I was so amazed at the details, and way Jerrold lived, with such horrific times in his live from his living style, to growing up, and all the obstacles, and problems that occured in his life. It was so sad, yet you cant put it down.

Excellent writing from a motivated and dedicated young man. Jerrold Ladd experienced disrupted education, a lack of early age positive male influence while proving first hand, that you can over come all obstacles and succeed in America.

It is a gut wrenching look into living in America's projects shortly after desegregation. It reminded me of the fact that life in America is not and has never been the same for everyone. For many, it is a living torture. Once you have read Out Of The Madness, you feel like you personally know the author. The author, Jerrold Ladd, tells an in-depth story about his life, his family (Mother, sister and brother) and some of his friends and associates. He provides an incredible amount of detail for a relatively short book (under 200 pages and large print). He allowed me to walk in his foot steps, feeling his disappointments, success's and failures. Each chapter presented intense quality of life and life treating situations that would test and potentially break the fiber of any man or woman. Jerrold exposes himself, his friends and associates in a bold and remarkable manner that allows you to actually feel his emotions. This book is a dead serious look at life within a segment of America, yesterday and today. The book reminds you that to many people (children and adults), needlessly, experience this and worst everyday. I recommend the book as a must read for everyone. My reason: This book provides an insight into a situation that many generations of Americans helped create. It gives motivation to those in similar situations and those that have not lived integrated into murder, drugs and abuse. Most of all, it proves, in America you can change your life.

a comprehensive, mind-blowing book written by a brilliant researcher and talented writer.

Ott is one of those minds that turns over every rock, looks around every corner and behind every door to uncover for you, the reader, each sumptuous detail of his subject.

Get your hands on every book this man has written.

This work by Hofman/Ott has so impressed me that I have shared it with many colleagues in the Holistic Health Field. Regardless of your political views on the medicinal or recreational use of illicit substances in the United States, reading this work will most definitely enhance your opinion! The political history of restriction and regulation of naturally occuring plants and the substances they hold was absolutely riveting. I found this work by studying the life of Dr Hoxsey, a controversial Naturopath who used salves and tinctures to treat cancer in the 20's and 30's. Building on political history, the authors discuss the shamanistic uses of many of these plants and how early man viewed the sacredness of their effects. How the loss of the sense of "sacredness" in our society affected the "psychodelic" sixties. An absolutely incredible work that I often refer back to in order to understand how it has changed my view on the uses of such plants, government's desire to control them and the space left for society at large.

I had to rate this book 4 stars because of its esoteric nature. If you have a background and interest in chemistry, physics, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, etc., this book definitely warrants 5 stars; but be forewarned, it is so esoteric in terms of the detailed chemistry of the subject compounds that the anthropologico-philosophical aspects risk becoming muddled. It is a bit dry due to the sheer focus on chemistry, but, should a non-chemical or biological sciences reader care to wade through the technical jargon, this book contains many sociology and anthropology oriented gems of note; especially in the proemium. Beyond the book's chemical analysis of entheogens, the socio-anthropological content is rewarding on its own merit, but is structured in such a scientific and choppy fashion that the philosophical statements easily get obscured in the technicality of the chemical presentation. On the other hand, the author, Jonathan Ott, is the founder of a chemical manufacturing firm that produces neurotoxins for biomedical research, so if you do in fact like viewing reality through chemical eyes, this book is indeed a great book, filled with chemistry, legal logic, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, etc.

In any case, here are some of the striking comments this book makes:

i) Entheogens, drugs, plants, etc., that mediate deeper social meanings and are used in many religious ceremonies, are socio~pharmacological agents that go far back into the history of medicine and anthropology, but which western bio-medicine generally under-emphasizes. For example, an American physician is unlikely to prescribe THC as a therapeutic agent, regardless of whether it is an effective treatment for symptoms of illness, nor will she utilize social aspects of healing, or generally healing itself, due to western cultural taboos. The gaps created in the social fabric due to entheogen use in many ceremonial settings are normal and constructive behaviors, and are found universally in human cultures diachronically. Age-old entheogen use among humans is often ignored by modern western medical practice, despite its efficacy in healing and socialization.

ii) Philosophically, entheogens are characterized by the author in a quote by the great biblical scholar and pantheist Spinoza, in that, "[entheogens] incite the desires and passions of men ... [they] incite men's thoughts the more toward those very objects ... [that are] forbidden." This implication by Spinoza is an example of the link between the feelings and social settings engendered by entheogens, and what we call holiness. It is also at the same time a critique of myopic drug laws and medical practices. Holidays from reality, whether by drugs, religion, or travel adventures, fit in with our innate thirst for novelty, regardless of whether Protestant or Muslem asceticism approves of them or not; nature demands these divine and necessary holidays. Whole religions are founded on such dynamics. For example, the ego dissolution caused by mescaline is similar to that sought in buddhism, or in the sacrifice of self found in the ideal of Jesus's sacrifice. Are such human events safe? arguably no, but highly useful and quite natural in any event.

iii) Legally, Ott elucidates the simple maxim that 'tobacco addiction is 'no different from heroine or cocaine' "; an ethical pill likely too hard to swallow for high level law makers or the average subjects of law: but irrefutably true in terms of raw biochemistry. Ott justifiably critiques the irrational and ineffective politics of the "war on drugs;" a politics as absurd and misleading as the current "war on terrorism."

iv) Pharmacologically, Ott underscores again and again, through chemical empiricism, that drugs merely mimick what already occurs naturally and by necessity in human physiology. As he states, "we're all on drugs, all of the time." Those not getting this simple fact are sorely unaware of, not only the essential mechanisms of organic emotion and their relations to psychopharmacology, but the wellsprings of their own existence as well.

The documentation and indexing of this book is extensive and could be a reference source for psychopharmacology for some time to come, although current ethical, legal, and cultural attitudes will likely assure that this valuable source material remains buried.

To recap, if you're not really into hard chemistry this book may bore you and be confusing and possibly meaningless. If, on the other hand, you have a background in chemistry and science, and are not fear-whipped by puritanical guilt, this book is a fairly insightful chronicle of the history, mechanisms, and sociology of our innate physiology in terms of religion, emotion, and the biochemistry of human/environmental interaction. Ott delivers this significant information in ways that have been present time and time again in many cultures across time, and buried as many times hence. The book is arguably a chemical manual of the origins and function of human spirituality; two phenomena seemingly at odds with one another: body and soul.

This work by Hofman/Ott has so impressed me that I have shared it with many colleagues in the Holistic Health Field. Regardless of your political views on the medicinal or recreational use of illicit substances in the United States, reading this work will most definitely enhance your opinion!

The political history of restriction and regulation of naturally occuring plants and the substances they hold was absolutely riveting. I found this work by studying the life of Dr Hoxsey, a controversial Naturopath who used salves and tinctures to treat cancer in the 20's and 30's.

Building on political history, the authors discuss the shamanistic uses of many of these plants and how early man viewed the sacredness of their effects. How the loss of the sense of "sacredness" in our society affected the "psychodelic" sixties.

An absolutely incredible work that I often refer back to in order to understand how it has changed my view on the uses of such plants, government's desire to control them and the space left for society at large.

Besides being really thick and imposing, this tome is really heavy. Really, really heavy. Jonathan Ott takes the time to document every reference ever published (seemingly, at least) while creating a surprisingly entertaining read.

This book is the Bible. I have never read a text more accurate, more useful, and more informative. If you can find this book, buy it. Protect it. Cherish it. Buy it presents. Take it on trips to the zoo- in fact, take it everywhere you go.

I do, and it has changed my life.