The Real Drug Abusers [Hardcover]

Fred Leavitt (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0742525171 | ISBN-13: 978-0742525177 | Publication Date: July 2003

While well over one million small-time drug users languish in overcrowded prisons because of nonviolent drug offenses, tens of thousands of others get rich from legal and illegal drugs. Drug company representatives persuade doctors to prescribe inferior products. Children as young as two are routinely given powerful drugs. Legal drugs, taken exactly as prescribed, are a leading cause of illness and death. Scientists beholden to drug companies fabricate and misrepresent data. This eye-opening book richly documents disturbing trends in Western medicine and urges readers toward a broader understanding of drug use and abuse. Leavitt shows how and why American society must change its medical and policy approaches to drugs and re-orient medical practice to new ways of thinking.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Real Drug Abusers is a devastating presentation of the propaganda and deceit that defines the pharmaceutical industry. This book presents a fascinating glimpse of the academic, economic, and medical abuses that are associated with legal drugs. (Alexander Shulgin )

The dichotomy that Fred Leavitt highlights demonstrates a need to rethink how we deal with all drugs while we dismantle the damaging war on drugs. (Kevin B. Zeese )

By juxtaposing the many ills of the war on drugs with the corruption of the medical-pharmaceutical establishment, Leavitt expertly diagnoses our systemic national pathology concerning drugs--both illegal and legal. (Ethan Nadelmann )

This book will interest college students of nearly any level. Recommended. (Choice Magazine )

This is one of the most important contributions to the field of drug research of the last decade. It is authoritative in its rendering of the complexities of the drug interaction effects, yet written in a straightforward and available style. (Duster, Troy )

About the Author

Fred Leavitt is professor of psychology at California State University, Hayward.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (July 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0742525171
• ISBN-13: 978-0742525177
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,640,949 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read the book., July 2, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Real Drug Abusers (Paperback)

This is an excellent book that exposes drug companies for what they are: profit driven corporations with little or no regard for people's health. The book goes on to discuss the so-called war on drugs (the never-ending war justifying the imprisonment of nonviolent individuals in the name of public safety and health). Again, this is an excellent book and it should be read by anyone who has concerns about national health care in its current state.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, challenging, informative must read, November 1, 2004

By 

EL "EL" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Real Drug Abusers (Paperback)

This is an important book for all people who care about drug policy as it relates to criminal justice, the pharmaceutical industry and the practice of medicine - which should be all of us.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read For Everyone!, June 12, 2007

By 

Acutegrl (Dublin, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Real Drug Abusers (Hardcover)

Everyone will have to or has had to take a prescription drug at one time or another in their lives. This books take readers behind the scenes for an in-depth look at what drives pharmaceutical companies, doctors and drug legislation as well as pointing out flaws in what many people regard as trusted medical research. This book is a real eye opener and a must read for everyone as it provides important information in protecting one's own health as well as the health of their loved ones. It is also the only textbook I have read in the last four years cover to cover and I think that says a lot.