Dreamland: Afterword Summary & Analysis

According to the CDC, heroin overdoses tripled between 2010 and 2013. The Xalisco Boys may have been the first to “systematically exploit” the new market the pill epidemic created for heroin, but today, the number of dealers entering that market has increased as former pill addicts continue to move toward heroin.

Simultaneously, though, a wave of criticism enveloped the country, driven by families of addicts. In addition, governments have been forced to reconsider how they will respond to a surplus of addicts with records: many are beginning to see jail “as an investment, not a cost,” advocating for more treatment facilities in prisons. In these ways, Quinones sees heroin “as an agent of change.”

When Quinones returns to Portsmouth in fall 2015, he sees more new businesses and community events. Quinones feels optimistic that Portsmouth can return to the town it was when Dreamland reigned.

The epidemic might be the natural result of a country increasingly driven into isolation. Scared parents raised children who grew up to themselves be afraid. Quinones cites an Atlantic article, “The Coddling of the American Mind,” that reports a generation of college students unwilling to engage with uncomfortable ideas. These trends are symptomatic of America’s notion “that we should be protected from pain at all cost.” Additionally, the American public has for too long sought solace in “stuff,” feeling it will bring them happiness. It’s in America’s isolation, Quinones believes, that “heroin thrives.” Ultimately, he decides that “the antidote to heroin is community.”