Light Up the Night: America’s Overdose Crisis and the Drug Users Fighting for Survival

Journalist Lupick (Fighting for Space) focuses this candid and vital look at the harm reduction method of addiction treatment on two drug users turned activists. Jess Tilley, a native of Northampton, Mass., started snorting and shooting heroin to cope with the trauma of sexual abuse, and discovered harm reduction while seeking treatment for an abscess in her arm. Louise Vincent’s bipolar disorder sent her on a downward spiral with drugs, but she now runs a needle exchange program in Greensboro, N.C. Lupick follows both women as they put the theory of harm reduction—“that you could improve health outcomes for people who use drugs without entirely ending their drug use”—into practice by organizing a march to commemorate “victims of the overdose crisis,” developing a recovery program that doesn’t require abstinence, and campaigning against efforts to prosecute people who unwittingly sell or procure drugs that cause someone’s death. Lupick also delves into racial disparities in drug sentences, the arrival of fentanyl in the U.S. in the 2010s, and how social stigma hinders drug users’ efforts to get help. But the book’s greatest strength is the intimate portrait of two indomitable women who have dedicated their lives to helping others. This is a must-read for those on the front lines of the opioid crisis. (Jan.)