Clean by David Sheff

Clean by David Sheff

A myth-shattering look at drug abuse and addiction treatment, based on cutting-edge research

Addiction is a preventable, treatable disease, not a moral failing. As with other illnesses, the approaches most likely to work are based on science -- not on faith, tradition, contrition, or wishful thinking. These facts are the foundation of Clean. The existing addiction treatments, including Twelve Step programs and rehabs, have helped some, but they have failed to help many more. To discover why, David Sheff spent time with scores of scientists, doctors, counselors, and addicts and their families, and explored the latest research in psychology, neuroscience, and medicine. In Clean, he reveals how addiction really works, and how we can combat it.

"A guide for those affected by addiction, but also a manifesto . . . for America as it confronts its drug problem. [Sheff] has performed a vital service by compiling sensible advice on a subject for which sensible advice is in short supply." -- New York Times Book Review

"As a journalist, father, and clear-eyed chronicler of addiction, David Sheff is without peer." -- Sanjay Gupta, M.D., chief medical correspondent, CNN

David Sheff is the author of many books, including the #1 New York Times bestselling memoir Beautiful Boy, about his battle to keep his son Nic from being addicted to drugs. Sheff's work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Wired, Playboy, Fortune, Rolling Stone, Outside, the Los Angeles Times Magazine, and other publications. He was named to Time magazine's list of the world's most important people for his continued research and reporting on the science of addiction. Sheff lives in Inverness, California, with his family.