They kill more people than car accidents. They kill the famous, including Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and Heath Ledger, and the young, such as a 15-year-old surfer. They kill someone every 14 minutes. And they're perfectly legal. In fact, you probably have some in your medicine cabinet. They are powerful prescription drugs – miracles of modern medicine that, when abused, become deadly, ruining lives and destroying families.

"Prescription Drug Abuse," forthcoming May 13 from Ronin Publishing, looks at the drugs most likely to be abused and the ease with which proper use can become abuse – including a simple quiz that can show readers if they or their loved ones are in danger of becoming abusers.

"Prescription Drug Abuse" also looks at how heavy-handed government attempts to crack down on pain and anxiety medications – which have included crackdowns on raw materials needed to make the medicines – have terrorized doctors and pharmacists and left thousands of desperate people in severe pain, unable to get any relief. Some have died – victims of the government crackdown.

Author Mark J. Estren, Ph.D., is a Pulitzer-winning journalist and former "Report on Medicine" producer, with more than 20 years of experience writing about health and medicine in easy-to-understand language – including the just-released "Statins: Miraculous or Misguided?" – also from Ronin Publishing.

Legal drugs now cause more deaths than heroin and cocaine combined. But prescription medicines for pain – and ones for anxiety, which are also frequently abused – really are miracle drugs. More than one-third of Americans have chronic pain – without these drugs, their lives would simply be unbearable.

How to take the drugs safely – how to know when abuse may be starting – how to intervene if a loved one is abusing them – how to balance the drugs' enormous value against their potential dangers – all this and more is in "Prescription Drug Abuse." Coming May 13 from Ronin Publishing – books for independent minds.