Fighting Drug Abuse With Acupuncture: The Treatment That Works

Plot

From BooklistSubstance abuse costs the U.S. $237 billion a year, and since imprisoning offenders and cutting off the supply have not worked against it all that well, most knowledgeable people now emphasize treatment. Lincoln Detox--the Acupuncture Clinic, Substance Abuse Division, Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in the South Bronx, that is--has pioneered the treatment of drug abuse with acupuncture, a practice begun by chance in Hong Kong in 1971. Acupuncture, especially of points in the ear, is proving to be of great help. Mitchell devotes much of this book to the daily operations of Lincoln Detox and the attitudes of its administrators, staff, and patients. Lincoln's clinic is a serene place, staffed by trained acupuncturists and those who have gone through National Acupuncture Detoxification Association programs and visited regularly by patients who take some part in their treatment. Mitchell describes similar work elsewhere in New York City, in Florida, and in Oregon to round out an optimistic book on a subject generally enveloped in pessimism. William Beatty