For Immediate Release -- April 21, 2001

Hooked: Five Addicts Challenge
Our Misguided Drug Rehab System
By Lonny Shavelson

The New Press, New York
Publication Date: June 1, 2001  
Contact: Julie McCarroll
212-629-4281
jmccarroll@thenewpress.com

             Writer, photographer, and physician Lonny Shavelson’s 1995 book on euthanasia (A Chosen Death) spoke to us at the right time: it engaged that most difficult issue with personally moving stories, and triggered debates across the country.  Now Hooked: Five Addicts Challenge Our Misguided Drug Rehab System (The New Press; Publication Date: June 1, 2001; $24.95 Hardcover) comes as America is finally waking up to the inadequacies of our current drug rehabilitation policies.  With court-mandated rehab being debated across the country, Shavelson’s in-depth look at the struggles of five addicts as they travel through the treatment maze makes a powerful case for reform.  On his gripping trek, he follows addicts behind the closed doors of rehabilitation counselors, doctors’ offices, and judges’ chambers, and, often, back to the street.  Hooked explores the links between drug addiction, mental illness, and trauma, including child abuse, that are ignored by current rehab efforts, and argues for an integrated approach that treats the roots of drug abuse, not just the behavior itself.

The author’s genuine concern for the addicts whose lives are at stake makes this work particularly compelling, as he ultimately questions the effectiveness of the system and challenges our preconceptions about addiction and treatment: How can the system treat the most difficult addicts who are in need of most help?  Should addicts who relapse be ejected from rehab programs?  Is it possible to reach out to those who refuse treatment altogether?

Shavelson’s account, accompanied by vivid and frank photographs of the people struggling through their addiction and the rehab maze, is written with clarity and compassion.  Drug addiction is both a public and a private issue that touches almost every family in America, and Shavelson explores it with the same sensitivity and insight he brought to his previous book on physician-assisted suicide, hailed as “brilliant” by the Los Angeles Times and “crucially important” by the Philadelphia Inquirer.  Sure to play a major role in the national debates on drug treatment policy, Hooked is a provocative, honest look at the seemingly intractable issue of drug addiction, and it offers sensible alternatives to our current treatment policies.

Advanced praise for Hooked:
“Like no other book I’ve read, Hooked brings home the reality of addicts’ lives and their need for drug rehab programs that work.  Anyone with a drug problem, caring for a loved one with a drug problem, or involved in drug rehab, must read this fascinating book.” – Martin Sheen, Actor

“A terrific read and a refreshing challenge to traditional drug rehab programs… This lively portrayal of current rehab options from the point of view of five addicts is a ‘must read’ for anyone involved or interested in effective treatment options for people whose addictive behavior is harming themselves and others.” – G. Alan Marlatt, Director, Addictive Behaviors Research Center, University of Washington

 “A compassionate, dignified portrayal of addicts’ daily struggles, as seen by an investigative journalist’s keen eye.  Hooked offers an important new contribution to the drug policy debate.” – Robert MacCoun, Professor of Law and Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley, and coauthor of Drug War Heresies.

            Praise for Lonny Shavelson’s A Chosen Death  
“A compassionate, brilliant book.  Shavelson writes with a combination of intelligence, simplicity and emotion.”  —Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review

“The stories recounted by Shavelson…are told with compassion, drama and insight.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer Book Review 

“The personality and varied talents of the author – as journalist, photographer, and physician – are evident in this remarkable book… Shavelson’s book challenges the simplistic thinking characteristic of much of the debate on this subject.” – The New England Journal of Medicine

             About the Author:  
Lonny Shavelson is a writer, photojournalist, and physician whose articles and photographs have appeared in The New York Times, People, TIME, Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times, and Mother Jones, along with many other publications.  He is the author of A Chosen Death and four other books.  He lives in Berkeley, California.

HOOKED: Five Addicts Challenge Our Misguided Drug Rehab System
By Lonny Shavelson

The New Press
Publication Date: June 1, 2001
Price: $24.95 Hardcover
ISBN 1-56584-684-2