Curious

A Foster Mom's Discovery of an Unexpected Solution to Drugs and Addiction

By: Christina Dent

Narrated by: Christina Dent

Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Curious is the story of Christina Dent's learning journey after a life-changing experience with the mother of her foster son sparks curiosity about the best way to reduce harm from drugs. With addiction touching many families and potent drugs available almost everywhere, better solutions are needed. Curious offers one.

Christina was born, raised, and homeschooled in a conservative Christian home in Mississippi. The proverbial good girl, she stayed away from drugs and earned a degree in Bible before leading ministries at her church. She's the last person you might think would give a TEDx Talk and found a thriving nonprofit inviting people to consider seismic shifts in how cultures worldwide approach drugs and addiction.

Curious tells her story along with the people and research that cross her path, giving her a vision for unexpected solutions that save lives, heal families, and promote public safety. But Curious isn't just a story. It's an invitation to listeners to get curious alongside Christina and consider for themselves whether the shift she comes to believe in could be the best way to reduce harm from drugs so all of us have a better opportunity to thrive.

©2024 Christina Dent (P)2024 Christina Dent

Critic reviews

"If you've ever loved anyone with an addiction, stop what you are doing now and read this beautiful and life-changing book. It's the most important thing you will do this year." —JOHANN HARI, New York Times Bestselling Author of Chasing the Scream and Stolen Focus

"Curious is the most thoughtful, humane, deeply Christian perspective on drug use one could possibly imagine." —DR. CORNELIUS PLANTINGA, Theologian, Author of Under the Wings of God

"If we want better outcomes, we have to think outside the box. This book takes us there." —RYAN HAMPTON, Addiction Recovery Advocate and Bestselling Author of American Fix and Unsettled

Good for Christians to learn about drug policy

I would highly recommend this book for the demographic, Christians who want to know more about effective drug policy. I'm already a libertarian who believes that all drugs should be decriminalized.

The book takes us on Christina's journey from a run-of-the-mill Christian who thinks drugs bad=should be criminalized, to meeting the mother of her foster child who struggles with addiction. She became curious about the real-world impact of our tough-on-drugs laws and what would be a better alternative. It's very gentle, trying carefully not to trigger conservatives. The narration by the author was so authentic it bordered on cloying. I wish our society had more people like her, it would be a better place.

One of the thing that frustrates me the most about watching Republican discussions is when Fentanyl overdose deaths comes up. Their only solution, as if it's obvious and no other solution exists, is to work harder to close down the border and stop drugs from coming. It's a convenient talking point because the Democrats have set themselves up as the party of open borders and lax drug laws. But the reason we have so much Fentanyl on the market, and it's being laced in other products, is because it's so potent. Smuggling creates an incentive to run the most expensive product for the smallest weight and volume.

I was given Fentanyl in my IV when I was in labor with my 2nd, while I was waiting for the anesthesiologist to come give me the epidural. It lasted for only a few minutes. It seemed like a dumb drug to me. But as long as people want drugs there will be poor people willing to provide it.

Prison is a place to put violent criminals to protect them from the general population. And it serves as an incentive to other would-be violent criminals not to commit crimes. We get serious problems when we try to throw drug addicts in prison and expect that to work. We need drug treatment facilities. I think we need more involuntary drug treatment facilities that a person's family can commit them to. Dealing with drug addiction should not be the job of the state.

One issue that I don't think the book satisfactorily answers is how Seattle and San Francisco have tried the experiment of decriminalizing drug use. It turned out badly and they are repealing that policy. There does need to be controls in place, but we need to give that power to families and local communities, not the federal government. Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that cities don't have to tolerate homeless people on their streets, I'm optimistic this situation will improve.

But yeah, it's silly to try to use the prison system to deal with drug addiction. It's not working. And that doesn't mean just letting people be drug addicts and pretending is a morally neutral thing. We can recognize that drug addiction is bad, and not want to criminalize it.

thank you

I enjoyed listening! your voice was perfect for your story! I may not take it any further than to look at end it now, but that will be my next step! listening actually got me so fired up that I have asked many people around me to read it and give me their thoughts. I hope sometime that we can talk! you were great at keeping my interest! now I am also going to buy chasing the scream to read/ listen to. thank you for sparking my curiosity!

Fantastic insight

Author’s reading made it even more impactful. Such an important book for anyone who has wondered what solutions there may to our current crisis with addiction.