Vicodin, Oxycontin, and Other Pain Relievers (Junior Drug Awareness)

Modern medicine provides more help than ever before for people suffering from severe or chronic pain. In recent years, the marketing, prescription, and use of opioid painkillers has skyrocketed. While providing much-needed relief to millions, these narcotics have also become the most problematic prescription medications in the country, found at the center of historical numbers of addiction and abuse cases, medical emergencies, and crime waves. ""Vicodin, OxyContin, and Other Pain Relievers"" gives readers the inside story on this newly notorious class of drugs and offers suggestions to help people affected negatively by abuse of these drugs.

Series introduction author Ronald J. Brogan is the Bureau Chief for the New York City office of D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) America. He also serves as a D.A.R.E. regional director for Oregon, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. In 1997, Brogan retired from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, where he served as a special agent for 26 years. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in criminal justice from the City University of New York.