The highly under-published problem of opioid prescription drug abuse actually is one of the main causes of our ongoing drug war.  This drug war is currently being waged locally and nearby is reaching fever pitches in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

Opioid painkillers are a class of psychoactive substances that are mainly used for pain management and include codeine, hydrocodone, and oxycodone (among others).

The war on drugs is a term used to describe the federal government's attempts to end the manufacturing, import, export, sale and use of illegal drugs through a series of anti-drug initiatives all aiming at the common goal of ending drug abuse.