Dr Dolans book details the intimate lives of four Iranian women, their struggle with drugs and the daily grind they faced in their personal lives. Surprisingly, Iran responded well to its AIDS crisis but forgot to include female drug users. While Dr Dolan delivered training to Iranian prison doctors, she met women who were addicted to drugs and were desperately in need of treatment. With her health professional colleagues in Iran, she set out to establish the first drug treatment clinic for women. She was granted access to areas and people not normally afforded to outsiders. One of the most interesting aspect of the clinic was the safe room that allowed women to remove their hejabs, smoke cigarettes and reveal their life stories. Working at the clinic challenged assumptions Dr Dolan had of Iran and its people. She came away with insights that are rare even in the world of international development.
Dr Kate Dolan is a professor of public health at the University of New South Wales, Australia. She has carried out over 100 studies, has published over 270 publications and received $39 million in research funds. She has been a consultant for the International Narcotics Control Board, the United Nations and the World Health Organization. She received a Winston Churchill Fellowship to study managed alcohol programs. She received a Senior Fulbright Fellowship from Kansas State University to study solitary confinement in prison. She established the first methadone clinic for female drug users in Iran.
Dolan draws from her vast international experience, weaving together the history and epidemiology of drug use in Iran with a tapestry of incredible, heart-rending stories from Iranian women experiencing the darkest depths of addiction. For readers who thought that epidemiologists were just bean counters, youre in for the shock of your lives. Steffanie Strathdee, PhD, Associate Dean of Global Health Sciences, Harold Simon Professor, UCSD Department of Medicine
This deftly crafted recollection recounts a decade-long quest to have methadone programs embedded in an Iranian prison. Kates multi-layered narrative takes us through the multitude of people, governments, policies, religions, moral imperatives and myths that swirl around any new drug and alcohol-related activity. Her mission was a matter of life and death. Jude Byrne, Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League
