In 1929, in the blue-collar city of Portsmouth, Ohio, a company built a swimming pool the size of a football field; named Dreamland, it became the vital center of the community. Now, addiction has devastated Portsmouth, as it has hundreds of small rural towns and suburbs across America. How that happened is the riveting story of Dreamland. Quinones explains how the rise of the prescription drug OxyContin, a miraculous and extremely addictive painkiller pushed by pharmaceutical companies, paralleled the massive influx of black tar heroin--cheap, potent, and originating from one small county on Mexico's west coast, independent of any drug cartel.

Includes discussion guide.

The pills. Portsmouth, Ohio ; OxyContin ; Addiction ; Pill mills ; The oxy trade ; Discovery -- Heroin. Enrique ; Tienditas ; Delivered like pizza ; The man ; Columbus, Ohio ; New Mexico ; Operation tar pit -- A new dreamland. Ground zero ; Importing pills ; Black gold ; Corporate crimes ; Tidal wave ; Silence -- Responding. A new approach ; Treatment ; Untreatable pain ; Everywhere ; Changes ; Portsmouth -- Photo album -- Discussion guide -- Resources for teens.