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Benjamin Y. Fong is author of the new book\xa0Quick Fixes: Drugs in America from Prohibition to the 21st Century Binge, which was just released in July, 2023 by Verso Books. Ben is an honors faculty fellow and associate director of the Center for Work & Democracy at Arizona State University, and his work has appeared in\xa0Jacobin, Catalyst,\xa0and the\xa0New York Times. Previously, Ben\u2019s work focused on the (usually negative) effects of neoliberal capitalism, writing about\xa0NGOs,\xa0labor leaders, and\xa0health care.\xa0Quick Fixes\xa0expands this examination into the world of drugs, examining nine different kinds of intoxicants, and five \u201corienting claims\u201d that place their use within in larger capitalist histories.\nA bit about the book...\nAmericans are in the midst of a world-historic drug binge. Opiates, amphetamines, benzodiazepines, marijuana, antidepressants, antipsychotics--across the board, consumption has shot up in the 21st century. At the same time, the United States is home to the largest prison system in the world, justified in part by a now zombified "war" on drugs. How did we get here?\nQuick Fixes\xa0is a look at American society through the lens of its pharmacological crutches. Though particularly acute in recent decades, the contradiction between America's passionate love and intense hatred for drugs has been one of its defining characteristics for over a century.\nThrough nine chapters, each devoted to the modern history of a drug or class of drugs, Fong examines Americans' fraught relationship with psychoactive substances. As society changes it produces different forms of stress, isolation, and alienation. These changes, in turn, shape the sorts of drugs society chooses.\nBy laying out the histories, functions, and experiences of our chemical comforts, the hope is to help answer that ever perplexing question: what does it mean to be an American?\nEmily Dufton\xa0is the author of\xa0Grass Roots: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Marijuana in America\xa0(Basic Books, 2017). A drug historian and writer, her second book, on the development of the opioid addiction medication industry, is under contract with the University of Chicago Press.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law