Authors examine havoc wreaked by Oxycontin abuse
The ongoing opioid crisis in our region continues unabated. As the socalled “pill mills” are gradually being shut down, the original epidemic of abuse of the drug Oxycontin has now morphed into a full blown nightmare of drug overdoses from illegal substances like heroin, as the formerly plentiful supplies of prescription pills have become more difficult for abusers to obtain.
Two new books provide readers with fictional viewpoints overlooking some tragic impacts that Oxycontin abuse has wreaked upon communities throughout the Appalachian region. Both books were recently published by the Ohio University Press in Athens.
“Maggie Boylan” by Michael Henson (Swallow Press/Ohio University Press, 151 pages, $18.95)
Michael Henson’s short story collection “Maggie Boylan” is set in southern Ohio. Henson, who lives in Cincinnati, centers these stories around a woman named Maggie Boylan. Maggie has lost almost everything as she has struggled with her addiction to Oxycontin.
Maggie no longer has custody of her children. Once beautiful, she is withering away. Her husband languishes in jail. He is incarcerated because he took the blame for something Maggie did to prevent her from being sent to prison again.
Henson describes her previous offense: “Finally, the judge sent her away for peddling amphetamines at the truck stop in Wolf Creek. She did three years in Marysville, then three months more in a halfway house…” Maggie stayed off drugs for a while until “Oxycontin blew into the county like a long, ugly storm. So it started all over again.”
The author’s background as a drug and alcohol counselor has given him opportunities to observe the damage that has been done. In one story, a character observes that “Oxycontin was a terrible thing. It could turn a good man into a thief, a good woman into a prostitute. It could make a farm go to seed, a house go to foreclosure.”
For Maggie, temptation is always just down the road at a place the locals call “Pillhead Hill” where she can get any drug she desires. Despite her flaws and desperation, it was hard for this reviewer to resist falling in love with “Maggie Boylan.”
“Weedeater-an Illustrated Novel” by Robert Gipe (Ohio University Press, 242 pages, $27.95)
Robert Gipe is a writer from Harlan, Ky. His novel “Weedeater” is set mostly in Kentucky and Tennessee. The “Weedeater” of his title is a fellow named Gene. The story is narrated primarily from the alternating viewpoints of Gene and a woman named Dawn. Gene is a simple soul who ekes out a living doing odd jobs that often involve lawn care, thus his nickname.
Dawn is feisty. She has issues. She’s devoted to her young daughter and uncertain about her marriage to a lovable loser. Dawn’s mother is a drug-addicted grifter.
Gene and Dawn are witnessing society shattering all around them. The coal country economy has collapsed. Lots of people are hooked on pills. Gene and Dawn are heroic figures. There are many cartoonish portraits here of the two of them muddling along.
Discover how the Oxycontin epidemic happened.
Read “Dopesick — Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America” by Beth Macy. The author grew up in Urbana. It will be out on Aug. 7.
Vick Mickunas of Yellow Springs interviews authors every Saturday at 7 a.m. and on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. on WYSO-FM (91.3). For more information, visit www. wyso.org/programs/booknook. Contact him at vick@ vickmickunas.com.