cover image Drug Agent USA: An Inside Look at the War Against Drugs

Drug Agent USA: An Inside Look at the War Against Drugs

Richard F. Radford. Quinlan Press (MA), $16.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-933341-97-5

Crowley, a 15-year veteran of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Radford ( Trooper ), here tell all-too-familiar drug stories of buy-and-bust operations and stings in which narcotics agents pose as sellers. But what makes the book unusual is their concentration on the abuse of prescription drugs (a problem perhaps as acute as the sale of heroin and cocaine): doctors who indiscriminately write prescriptions; pharmacists who order pills to sell to addicts at inflated prices; and factories that produce analogs akin to common drugs but slightly altered medically so they are not, technically, considered illegal substances. Their revelations will surprise and educate readers. Photos not seen by PW. (June)