For those interested in learning more about the erosion of the American heartland by the widespread use of prescription narcotics, particularly Oxycontin, I strongly recommend the book "Dreamland," a nonfiction text weaving together the narratives of the opiode boom in American medicine and the spread of Xalisco black tar herion cells throughout American cities that had seldom seen heroin: http://www.amazon.com/Dreamland-True-Americas-Opiate-Epidemi...
Very readable and educational. I couldn't put it down, and it tied together a lot of disparate threads that I have noticed over the past two decades but which I was unable to connect myself.
The erosion is not just isolated to the heartland. Grew up in a suburban area and the epidemic was just as bad. Highschoolers were getting hooked at a very young age and some elderly people were selling their Oxycontin as well.
This has since changed as the laws/regulations regarding filling Oxycontin perceptions changed. Now Heroin is becoming an epidemic. Some friends in law enforcement have told me there is a big increase in high schoolers and young 20s using Heroin, which causes an increase in them becoming thieves or prostitutes (15 and 16 year olds from somewhat well off families running away from home).
Very readable and educational. I couldn't put it down, and it tied together a lot of disparate threads that I have noticed over the past two decades but which I was unable to connect myself.