Bobbi Jensen, Criminal Justice Consultant, Educator and Reform Activist

Author truly bared her soul

Revisado: 01-24-22

first of all, there isn't much out there in the area of Adderall addiction memoirs so is a welcome addition to the genre as far as I am concerned. Vitale did a great job capturing and relating many of the experiences that are unique to Adderall abuse and addiction. the only real negative I have to point out is that because she was able to achieve success after her 1st attempt at rehab it sort sends the wrong message to others out there looking to quit... Adderall can be a very difficult drug to get off of because of the productivity you can achieve (or at least believe you are achieving) when on it. especially if you're an actual sufferer of ADHD. otherwise it was an amazing book and I hope we will hear more from her in the future!!

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Excellent performance and loved her dark humor!

Revisado: 11-19-21

I really enjoyed this and really have to give the author credit for diving in head first using self-deprecating humor to keep the listener engaged so that she was able to discuss and educate the reader about the experience of being mentally ill, in particular bipolar, manic episodes as well as things like psychosis, suicide attempts and mental institutions. these subjects are often just too uncomfortable for the average person to hear about or even think about at times yet I have to say there was no point throughout the entire book where it felt to dark or uncomfortable to listen to. also the author did an outstanding job with the narration of this book. Her writing style is very unconventional so it pretty much had to be her in order to put the proper inflections and emphasis on words and phrases throughout the book. There's no way another narrator could have hit all of her sarcastic jokes etc. it was best for her to read it herself and she really nailed it! it may be the best narration I've ever heard!

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Near perfect look at a broken even corrupt system!

Revisado: 10-26-21

This book and it's subject matter are critically important to understanding the major cause of mass incarceration in the US today. Prosecutor's have unchecked power to act without consequence as judge jury and executioner in over 97% of cases that pass through our criminal courts today and have a developed a culture of "win at all costs" within their offices and chains of command. The 97% is the number of criminal cases in this country that are settled WITHOUT a trial! The court system does not give most defendants a fighting chance and only 2-3 people out of every hundred have the guts to challenge the system though they are often treated as if they are mentally unstable when they do because it has become "crazy" to challenge the wheels of justice and everybody involved assumes those wheel are going roll right over you. What's sad is they are right to h have that opinion because it's based on facts. They way the system has evolved over time as is detailed in this book literally has gone in the opposite direction of it's original intent to find out the truth and dispense justice accordingly. We are not at a point where at nearly every turn citizens are being forced to sign away constitutional rights, get bullied into pleading guilty often without seeing the evidence against them or being able to consult with an attorney and then on top of all of it, lie to the court and say no threats or promises were made to get them to agree to the appeal or the court will not accept it! This happens all day every day in courts in every single state in the country and all of the parties (often accept the defendants) are fully aware of the grand deception taking place. When defendants want to exercise their right to a trial they are flat out told they will get a much more severe sentence if they exercise that right (on average 2-3 times as long as if they did not have a trial) which is absurd as this book points out! Would we punish someone for exercising any other rights? Would we routinely demand citizens sign away these rights as part of a strategy to fight for their very lives? This book as well as a few of the others i have reviewed recently will provide the kind of information every American needs to have in order to understand what our own government is acting out as our public servants! These people are supposed to be there to work for us and keep the public safe but it doesn't seem that is what their jobs are about anymore. Check out the book and decide for yourselves. It's time to wake up people!!

If I was going to make any criticism of this book it would be that there hasn't been anyone. including the author who has explored the consequences of so called "pre-trial monitoring" and how reporting to these programs is often a requirement of bail/bond and can often be more stringent and intrusive than even probation and parole. though you are still technically innocent you must report as much as 1-2 times per week during business hours which means time off of work, you are subjected to monitoring by agencies I have nicknamed "The Peelice" (because their primary function is pee testing you) for constant UA drug tests which I have personally found humiliating. The procedure in Milwaukee county requires you to pull your pants to your knees, pull your shit up to your breasts then spin in a complete circle and then hold one hand up as you take the cup with the other and then try to urinate. If that is not enough then imagine adding to that a worker who feels she needs to squat down about 3 feet in from of you and stare at your genitals as you try to go! If you refuse or can't go it is considered a failure of a UA and for any failed tests (as well as a variety of other violations of the programs rules) you are immediately dragged before your judge who must now squeeze you into an already overflowing schedule to explain yourself and your "bail jumping" to them. You cannot predict what is going to happen. Could be jail. could be a demand for more bail. could be some other punishment ordered or it could be nothing. That's just it is that you never know so you feel as though your life is hanging on by a thread every time you have to report to these people. It makes many people take plea deals in the same way being in jail pretrial does. It is often used by prosecutors as a tool to press for a plea deal because they know people with certain mental health or addiction issues of those who live in certain areas where stop and frisks are used regularly that there is good chance someone with these circumstances will make a mistake and they can then threaten felony bail jumping charges get added on which they can easily get a conviction on if the defendant even the innocent do not agree to the plea they are being offered. It's a common everyday occurrence. These pretrial monitoring programs often treat the innocent worse than a PO does someone who has plead guilty, They shouldn't be allowed to demand so much from people who have to be presumed innocent! Check stubs, bank statements, medical information including any and all RX medication to name a few things all becomes part of your criminal case information! YOUR ONLY ALTERNATIVE IS JAIL! you cannot refuse these programs if you want to get out. So I would like the author or future authors to please investigate pretrial monitoring because as I have pointed out here it's a serious part of the problem!

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the best boom on the subject

Revisado: 10-20-21

this was amazing work and probably the most well researched book I've ever read. the time and effort the author took to really gain insight into the whole picture of eviction and the plight of the poor is unparalleled. I highly recommend it.

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A must read for everyone!

Revisado: 10-18-21

this book was an extremely detailed and accurate look into our modern criminal justice system and a very accurate accounting of what is broken and contributing to the serious and out of control issue of mass incarceration in this country! it follows two different defendants through their cases from start to finish. she focuses mainly on prosecutor's and the way the system has evolved over time to grant them a HUGE amount of of unchecked power, effectively making them by far the most powerful people in the justice system with far more control over defendants destinies than even our judges! The most important thing she shows in this work is how they overcharge or stack charges, demand high bail and then threaten to ask for substantially longer sentences if a trial is held and lost in order to force someone to plead guilty, even if they are innocent! she also provides a good look at the roles of the other parties involved as well. the book breaks down the typical practices of police, judges, defense attorneys (both public defenders for the poor and private attorneys hired by defendants who can afford it), the monetary bail system, bail bondsman and case managers/social workers. what makes this such a great book is the fact that she doesn't just point out the problems within the system but she also offers well researched solutions as well.

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I applaud her brutal honesty!

Revisado: 10-11-21

Tiffany did an amazing job talking about things that were absolutely humiliating and even dehumanizing. She did not shy away from the ugly parts of addiction and put all of the skeletons in her closet out there for the whole world to see in an effort to share a very authentic account the darkest days of her life. In my opinion a good addiction and recovery memoir must include the right balance of the down and dirty details of day-to-day life for someone who has lost control their use of substances as well as a realistic description of what it took for them to find their way out of the darkness and to a place where they once again have control of their lives. She has clearly travelled so far and found her joy, self fulfillment and also the realization that everything happens for a reason! Congrats Tiffany and thank you for sharing your journey with us!

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Dr. Carl Hart is right! We shouldn't hide anymore!

Revisado: 09-20-21

Dr. Hart really knocked this one out of the park! His arguments are well researched and are very plainly stated yet highly intelligent! The world would quickly evolve into a different place if those in positions of authority and/or those who are well respected by society found the courage to admit they too enjoy a variety or mood altering substances or at the very least admit that they once did. He repeatedly comes back to the basic fact that in this country we are supposed to have the right to "life liberty and the pursuit of happiness" yet somehow the war on drugs has stripped that from us. I mean how can you possibly consider a country to be free as long as our government continue is to police and incarcerate citizens for what they choose to ingest and put into their own bodies? Could there be anything more invasive, in violation of your rights and personal privacy then telling you what you can and cannot put into your own body?!? We need to stop putting these hypocrites in power! So many spend their evenings behind closed doors partaking in that which they spend their days raging against! Our country has been doing the unthinkable for a century now by ultimately demonizing the citizens who are merely guilty of nothing more then acting on the most basic human instinct to alter one's Consciousness! I for one am tired or the good drugs/good people, bad drugs/bad people BS! if somebody is the user of so-called good drugs (meaning Alcohol Tobacco or caffeine) they are allowed to consume at whatever rate they would like even though they are more likely to die from the effects of alcohol and tobacco then they are the so-called illicit drugs they are allowed to carry on and no one seems the least bit disturbed. However swap that out for and are illegal drug and all of a sudden it is a situation that warrants law enforcement intervention and the labeling that individual as an addict not to mention the possibility of being saddled with a Criminal conviction that well haunt you at every possible turn for the rest of your life! just having that stigma attached to you alone and the additional hurdles that must be overcome when you are branded with The Scarlet Letter of a felony could very likely take somebody who was a stable person with a good life and turn them into somebody who is now financially ruined, mentally unwell, lacking any prospects for a real future as well as feeling harshly judged and shunned by society and maybe even friends and family. do you know what that equals? The perfect recipe for a drug user to become a drug addict!

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Wow! An amazing amount of harm reduction info!

Revisado: 09-19-21

I'm somebody who considers myself to be well-read and well-educated on this particular subject and even I was more than impressed with how well put together the research, anecdotes and author's well-informed opinions are in this book. this should be required reading for anybody who doesn't understand why we need to end the war on drugs and go in a different direction. Prohibition does not work and has never worked throughout the course of human history. this book clearly connect the dots as to not just why that is but how we can go about evolving into a better more caring Society that actually treats addiction as a health affliction rather than a character defect or criminal act. I could not have been more impressed!

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