This set provides detailed information on 52 drugs and other addictive substances, defined as illegal drugs, legal addictive drugs and other substances as well as commonly abused classes of prescription and over the counter drugs. Arranged alphabetically by official name, each entry follows the same format, allowing students to easily compare and contrast different drugs. Similar in scope to Thomson Gale's Drugs and Controlled Substances for Students, this set provides information in an objective manner that is appropriate for middle school students. Statistics highlight each entry and sidebars provide information on the legal, historical or social aspects of the particular drug. Difficult words are defined within the text and are included in the "Words to Know" section.

Each entry includes:

Official and street name
Classification
Historical background and current impact
Chemical/organic composition
Ingestion methods
Therapeutic uses
Usage trends
Effects
Treatment and rehabilitation
and more