Books about Heroin and Heroin Addiction

Stories of Addiction, Hope and Victory

Author Humberto Fernandez covers the basic history, psychology, pysiology and pharmocology of heroin addiction, but also explores different treatments for addicts, including individual case studies. Fernandez also looks at the role heroin has played in society and in the culture of a generation.

Do you think all heroin users are addicts? Francis Moreas reveals that only 20 percent of heroin users are addicted and she debunks other misconceptions surrounding the drug. Moreas also explores the journey of a heroin user from buying and using the drug to detoxing and maintaining abstinence.

Author Lee D. Hoffer spent three years in Denver, Colorado, to complete a study of the rise and fall of a heroin dealing network. Hoffer's book is considered the first to provide an inside look at heroin dealing as a business and the lessons learned from its demise.

This book compiles the diary entries of Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx during his personal year-long dive toward the rock-bottom of heroin and cocaine addiction. The entries provide a brutally honest journey of a dazed and confused, out-of-control addict, but also reveals Nikki's decision to finally reach out for help.

Unfortunately, the stories of many heroin addicts do not have a happy ending. In this book, Rita Lowenthal writes about her son's addiction and how the lives of Josh Lowenthal's friends and family members were permanently affected by his life-ending heroin addiction.

Guy Chevreau outlines the history of the Betel recovery program, which started in one church in Spain and spread to dozens of communities. He presents the stories of the program's participants from their decades of addiction to a place of hope, redemption and transformation through the Christ-centered Betel program.

Authors Jennifer Friedman and Marisa Alicea relay the stories of 37 women enrolled in Florida methadone programs and reveal how they struggle to regain control of their lives although they are still controlled by methadone itself and the clinics that dispense it. They also explore the effect of race, class and gender oppression on this group of addicts.

Julie O'Toole describes the painful downward spiral into heroin addiction and the feeling of overwhelming hoplessness for the addict. But she also reveals how heroin addicts can find hope -- and that hope can lead to victory over the oppression of heroin addiction.