Combating Opioid Addiction

Hospitals dealing with increasing opioid overdose cases want to expand use of "anti-craving medicines such as buprenorphine or methadone with supportive counseling and behavioral therapy" that has shown promise in helping people kick the habit ("Too Many Overdoses: ERs Fight Drugs with Drugs Amid Opioid Crisis," USA Today, January 3, 2019). A linked study from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that "a total of 63,632 drug overdose deaths occurred in 2016, a 21.4% increase from 2015. Nearly two thirds (66.4%) of drug overdose deaths in 2016 involved prescription opioids, illicit opioids, or both, an increase of 27.7% from 2015."

Review selected hard copy/online library books related to opioid abuse and treatment at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Place Hold" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to request for pick up at the library.

Use these subject words and phrases to find more information in the library catalog:

• medication abuse
• opioid abuse
• opioid-related disorders
• oxycodone abuse
• prescription drug misuse

Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy
Little, Brown and Company, 2018
call number: 362.29 Mac

"Beth Macy takes us into the epicenter of America's twenty-plus year struggle with opioid addiction....From the introduction of OxyContin in 1996, Macy parses how America embraced a medical culture where overtreatment with painkillers became the norm." - publisher's summary excerpt

The Addiction Solution: Treating Our Dependence on Opioids and Other Drugs by Lloyd I. Sederer
Scribner, 2018
call number: 362.29 Sed

"Lloyd I. Sederer, MD, brings together scientific and clinical knowledge, policy suggestions, and case studies to describe our current drug crisis and establish a clear path forward to recovery and health and lays out specific, evidence-based, researched solutions to the prevention and problems of drug use, including exercise, medications, therapy, recovery programs, and community services." - publisher's summary excerpt

The Opioid Crisis: A Reference Handbook by David E. Newton
ABC-CLIO, 2018
call number: 615.7 New

"A comprehensive overview of opioid use throughout human history, current problems surrounding opioid abuse, and suggested approaches to solving these problems including a complete historical overview of opioid use in human societies, a chronology of important events in the history of opioid use, and the synthetic and neurological chemistry of opioids and how different types have been used throughout history." - publisher's summary excerpt

Understanding the Opioid Epidemic by John Grant
WNED/PBS, 2018
call number: 362.293 Und (DVD Collection)

"Examines the toll of opioid addiction in the U.S. on individuals, families, and communities through personal stories, including a couple who lost their son to prescription painkillers, and expert commentary."- publisher's summary

Breaking the Poverty Cycle

Despite minimal unemployment in the state, the prevalence of families having to get by with even full-time minimum wage earnings allows poverty to persist, especially for the youngest Texans ("New Report Indicates One In Five Texas Children Lives in Poverty," Texas Standard, November 15, 2018). In the recently released 2018 State of Texas Children report, the Center for Public Policy Priorities, one of the recommendations is to increase the minimum wage and access to paid sick leave.

Review selected hard copy/online library books related to poverty at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Place Hold" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to request for pick up at the library.

Use these subject words and phrases to find more information in the library catalog:

• child welfare United States
• income distribution United States
• living wage movement
• poor children United States
• poverty United States
• public welfare United States
• working class United States
• working poor

Winning the War on Poverty: Applying the Lessons of History to the Present by Brian L. Fife
Praeger, 2018
call number: 339.4 Fif

"Applying lessons from history to the reality of poverty today in the United States--the most affluent country in the world--this book analyzes contributing factors to poverty and proposes steps to relieve people affected by it." - publisher's summary excerpt

"We Are All Fast-Food Workers Now": The Global Uprising Against Poverty Wages by Annelise Orleck
Beacon, 2018
call number: 331.5 Orl

"An urgent, illuminating look at globalization as seen through the eyes of workers-activists- small farmers, fast-food servers, retail workers, hotel housekeepers, home-healthcare aides, airport workers, and adjunct professors who are fighting for respect, safety, and a living wage." - publisher's summary excerpt

Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah Smarsh
Scribner, 2018
call number: 305.562 Sma

"An eye-opening memoir of working-class poverty in America that will deepen our understanding of the ways in which class shapes our country." - publisher's summary excerpt

Digital Currency and Blockchains Provide Banking Services for Even Those with Flip Phones

Local currency in Kenya is transitioning "from multicolored paper notes to a digital token based on blockchain" supported by a Swiss company, Bancor ("Closing the Cash Gap with Cryptocurrency," Bloomberg Businessweek, November 3, 2018). This project is noteworthy because the use of digital currency is going beyond "speculation or illicit trade" to becoming the "basis for financial inclusion and economic stimulus for the poorest."

Review selected hard copy/online library books related to cryptocurrency and blockchains at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Place Hold" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to request for pick up at the library.

Use these subject words and phrases to find more information in the library catalog:

• Bitcoin
• blockchains
• electronic commerce
• electronic funds transfers
• electronic commerce
• mobile commerce

The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking by Saifedean Ammous
Wiley, 2018
call number: 332.1 Amm (note: in processing - can place a hold to request it)

"When a pseudonymous programmer introduced "a new electronic cash system that's fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party" to a small online mailing list in 2008, very few paid attention. Ten years later, and against all odds, this upstart autonomous decentralized software offers an unstoppable and globally-accessible hard money alternative to modern central banks. The Bitcoin Standard analyzes the historical context to the rise of Bitcoin, the economic properties that have allowed it to grow quickly, and its likely economic, political, and social implications." - publisher's summary excerpt

Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies Is Changing the World by Don Tapscott and Alex Tapscott
Portfolio, 2018
call number: 332.1 Tap (note: in processing - can place a hold to request it)

"Blockchain is the ingeniously simple technology behind Bitcoin. But it is much more than that. It is a public ledger to which everyone has access, but which no single person controls. It enables companies and individuals to collaborate with an unprecedented degree of trust and transparency. It is cryptographically secure, but fundamentally open. And soon it will be everywhere...Don and Alex Tapscott reveal how this game-changing technology will shape the future of the world economy, dramatically improving everything from healthcare records to online voting, and from insurance claims to royalty payments." - publisher's summary excerpt

The Truth Machine: The Blockchain and the Future of Everything by Michael J. Casey and Paul Vigna
St. Martin's Press, 2018
call number: 332.1 Cas

"Michael J. Casey and Paul Vigna demystify the blockchain and explain why it can restore personal control over our data, assets, and identities; grant billions of excluded people access to the global economy; and shift the balance of power to revive society's faith in itself. They reveal the disruption it promises for industries including finance, tech, legal, and shipping." - publisher's summary excerpt