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Generation Oxy: From High School Wrestlers to Pain Pill Kingpins
The unforgettable story of Florida teenagers turned oxycodone traffickers
Generation Oxy is the story of a group of friends—clean cut, all-American high school kids—who stumbled into the Sunshine State’s murky underworld of illegal pill mills and corrupt doctors. This teenage criminal enterprise ultimately shipped hundreds of thousands of OxyContins and other prescription painkillers throughout the country, making millions in the process.
This true crime memoir details the three-year-long rise and collapse of the Barabas Criminal Enterprise, an opiod-pill trafficking ring founded by Douglas Dodd and his best friend on the wrestling team, Lance Barabas. Raised by an alcoholic mother and surrounded by drug-abusing relatives, Dodd got involved in narcotics at an early age. Their scheme to sell the drugs he was already consuming coincided with the explosion of prescription addicts who were traveling the “Oxy Express” to Florida for easy access to the pills they dubbed “hillbilly heroin.” Soon they were shipping forty thousand pills a month, with tens of thousands of dollars returning in hollowed-out teddy bears.
In Generation Oxy , Dodd recounts his time as a wannabe bottle service at clubs, an arsenal of weapons that would make Dillinger blush, narrow escapes from the law, hordes of young women, and as many pills as he could swallow. And this was all before he was legally able to drink a beer, while still living with his grandmother. The good times came to an end when the DEA closed in and the twenty-year-old Dodd faced life in federal prison.
Generation Oxy is the story of a group of friends—clean cut, all-American high school kids—who stumbled into the Sunshine State’s murky underworld of illegal pill mills and corrupt doctors. This teenage criminal enterprise ultimately shipped hundreds of thousands of OxyContins and other prescription painkillers throughout the country, making millions in the process.
This true crime memoir details the three-year-long rise and collapse of the Barabas Criminal Enterprise, an opiod-pill trafficking ring founded by Douglas Dodd and his best friend on the wrestling team, Lance Barabas. Raised by an alcoholic mother and surrounded by drug-abusing relatives, Dodd got involved in narcotics at an early age. Their scheme to sell the drugs he was already consuming coincided with the explosion of prescription addicts who were traveling the “Oxy Express” to Florida for easy access to the pills they dubbed “hillbilly heroin.” Soon they were shipping forty thousand pills a month, with tens of thousands of dollars returning in hollowed-out teddy bears.
In Generation Oxy , Dodd recounts his time as a wannabe bottle service at clubs, an arsenal of weapons that would make Dillinger blush, narrow escapes from the law, hordes of young women, and as many pills as he could swallow. And this was all before he was legally able to drink a beer, while still living with his grandmother. The good times came to an end when the DEA closed in and the twenty-year-old Dodd faced life in federal prison.
- GenresTrue CrimeNonfiction
224 pages, Hardcover
Published October 10, 2017
41 people are currently reading
132 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
January 22, 2018
I've heard this book described as a kind of Suburban Scarface, and that's not too wide of the mark. Imagine young pill dealers blasting Limp Bizkit instead of Donna Summer, and riding ATVs and mudding instead of pushing Benz's, and you sort of get the idea. Doug Dodd does a good job of describing how he went from being trapped at home with a dysfunctional, alcoholic mom to becoming part of a major prescription pain pill trafficking cartel. All of the details of the business are fascinating, from the use of "doctor-shoppers" to the faking of injuries and forgery of prescription pill bottle labels in order to keep the supply flowing.
I don't think I'll be revealing any spoilers by describing the general arc of this story, since things always follow a well-worn path for enterprising young men who end up selling dope. They start making money, they have some good times, they get addicted to the rush, and then the walls start closing in. Eventually what started as a non-stop party devolves into a nightmare. Gunshots ring out, people OD, and then come the indictments.
If people turn informant among even hardened criminals sworn to uphold the code of Omerta, you can imagine what happens when some ex-high school wrestlers find out they're facing the prospect of doing twenty-five years or so if they don't turn on each other.
The book is told in a fast-paced unpretentious style that makes it an addictive page-turner. I found it hard not to read the entire thing in a couple sittings. Highest recommendation.
I don't think I'll be revealing any spoilers by describing the general arc of this story, since things always follow a well-worn path for enterprising young men who end up selling dope. They start making money, they have some good times, they get addicted to the rush, and then the walls start closing in. Eventually what started as a non-stop party devolves into a nightmare. Gunshots ring out, people OD, and then come the indictments.
If people turn informant among even hardened criminals sworn to uphold the code of Omerta, you can imagine what happens when some ex-high school wrestlers find out they're facing the prospect of doing twenty-five years or so if they don't turn on each other.
The book is told in a fast-paced unpretentious style that makes it an addictive page-turner. I found it hard not to read the entire thing in a couple sittings. Highest recommendation.
October 18, 2021
I was searching something on college wrestlers and their addictions when I found this book. The picture of the guy on the cover intrigued me the most. That picture has been around gay blogs and forums for a long time and it's one of the first results when you search "Hot College Guys" on google.
This Picture
I thought it was a stock photo. I was shook to find out it was the protagonist of this real story.
So how did a great athlete, good student and good looking high school guy end up in prison for trafficking? A broken family and mommy issues, a lot of mommy issues. I'm surprise he didn't end in porn like his friend Richard.
The story was so entertaining. Douglas tells it all, sometimes, maybe, too much. He went from wrestler to being one of the biggest and youngest smuggler of drugs in Florida.
He paints himself as the most cautious and self centered of the drug organization and his friends as inmature and kinda dumb, blaming them as big part of his downfall even when you can see he was doing dumb stuff himself.
But the book teach us that the biggest one to blame in this story is the government that lets big companies do what they want without repercutions. These guys just took advantage of the situation.
This Picture
I thought it was a stock photo. I was shook to find out it was the protagonist of this real story.
So how did a great athlete, good student and good looking high school guy end up in prison for trafficking? A broken family and mommy issues, a lot of mommy issues. I'm surprise he didn't end in porn like his friend Richard.
The story was so entertaining. Douglas tells it all, sometimes, maybe, too much. He went from wrestler to being one of the biggest and youngest smuggler of drugs in Florida.
He paints himself as the most cautious and self centered of the drug organization and his friends as inmature and kinda dumb, blaming them as big part of his downfall even when you can see he was doing dumb stuff himself.
But the book teach us that the biggest one to blame in this story is the government that lets big companies do what they want without repercutions. These guys just took advantage of the situation.
August 14, 2018
Excellent Book written by Conspiragkr
I have Generation Oct because it is a great read, written by one of the convicted conspirators and very accurately describing the Oct epidemic, pill mills and drug diversion.
The afterword was great, providing information on those involved during & after the conspiracy and imprisonment, as well as info on extraneous involved people.
This is an important read for anyone looking for the effect the opiate epidemic has had, right from the start. Social Work & Public Health majors as well as criminal justice students would benefit greatly by the insight provided.
I have Generation Oct because it is a great read, written by one of the convicted conspirators and very accurately describing the Oct epidemic, pill mills and drug diversion.
The afterword was great, providing information on those involved during & after the conspiracy and imprisonment, as well as info on extraneous involved people.
This is an important read for anyone looking for the effect the opiate epidemic has had, right from the start. Social Work & Public Health majors as well as criminal justice students would benefit greatly by the insight provided.
December 10, 2018
Surprised
This was an interesting read. I was surprised by how long it took to authorities to catch these “kids”. It’s a sneak peak at a lifestyle that one may never know if one has never done any type of drugs. Can help parents prepare their kids for what they may encounter at some of these parties and how easily that becomes a problem for life!
This was an interesting read. I was surprised by how long it took to authorities to catch these “kids”. It’s a sneak peak at a lifestyle that one may never know if one has never done any type of drugs. Can help parents prepare their kids for what they may encounter at some of these parties and how easily that becomes a problem for life!
November 29, 2017
Great book!
April 14, 2018
Wow. An eye opener into the “real world”. A very fluid quick read. One every parent should read. Good luck to Douglas for his future, may he have forever learnt from his past.
December 18, 2025
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. They sound like they had a great time and learned (hopefully), but they didn’t get nearly enough time. They didn’t kill anyone, per se, but by providing the thousands of pills it could eventually lead to other addictions (heroin) that probably did lead to death or still active addiction. So shame on these boys.
But this was a pretty alright read. I devoured it! I enjoy books about drugs, addiction, human behavior, etc.
He could have been less detailed about his sexual endeavors. I didn’t wanna read Maxim.
But this was a pretty alright read. I devoured it! I enjoy books about drugs, addiction, human behavior, etc.
He could have been less detailed about his sexual endeavors. I didn’t wanna read Maxim.
October 23, 2019
Very fast and entraining read! These boys are lucky to come out alive. Good to see Doug rebounding and bouncing back. I know he is working on a second book about recovery and redemption. Should be good.
January 22, 2020
I've been told by many that it was the fastest and most thrilling book they've ever read.
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August 29, 2018Unbelievable the empire these kids built out of nothing. Unfortunately greed is what took them down. Its a gritty look at pill mills and the start of the opioid epidemic in America.
November 23, 2017
This was a quick, enjoyable read featuring a firsthand perspective from a major player in the oxycodone trade showing how he initially got involved, perfected the trade, attempted to get out of the game and eventually got caught. Despite all that, I can only give it 3 stars because the writing was not at the same level as American Kingpin or even Pill City. The problem with writing a memoir like this is that it only includes the author's point of view whereas it could have benefited by devoting passages to law enforcement's thought processes.
As an aside, I hope that readers don't get the impression that Dodd or his co-defendants were punished severely. Had he been caught with those number of pills and charged in state (Florida) court facing a 25 year minimum mandatory where judges have almost no discretion with sentencing on trafficking charges, I suspect he would still be incarcerated.
As an aside, I hope that readers don't get the impression that Dodd or his co-defendants were punished severely. Had he been caught with those number of pills and charged in state (Florida) court facing a 25 year minimum mandatory where judges have almost no discretion with sentencing on trafficking charges, I suspect he would still be incarcerated.
December 3, 2021
This book is Wolf of Wall Street meets Blow, but instead of taking place in corporate America or a mansion in California, it takes place in the trailer parks of Florida. A story of how a bunch of low-middle class boys became major players in the budding opioid epidemic.
As you read the book, you can’t help but find yourself liking Doug Dodd and his group friends, even crazy Lance. This story is unbelievable and coherently describes the entire system of the underground opioid racket, including the roles of doctor shoppers and pill mills. Another great book from expert true crime writer, Matthew Cox.
As you read the book, you can’t help but find yourself liking Doug Dodd and his group friends, even crazy Lance. This story is unbelievable and coherently describes the entire system of the underground opioid racket, including the roles of doctor shoppers and pill mills. Another great book from expert true crime writer, Matthew Cox.
January 29, 2020
This is an amazing true story! It felt like you were in the story! Maybe more so to me because this story took place in my hometown and with people I actually knew! I recommend this book to anyone and everyone. Once I started reading I couldn’t stop. I finished the book within 3 nights. There were things in the story I wasn’t aware of and the book had me trying to guess the actually characters real names! It was like a puzzle/ game to me as well. Well written book and can’t wait to read the next one!
December 20, 2019
This book was so well written but I was in the story with Doug. We know a lot about the opioid crisis, but this writing gave us a perspective we’ve never had before and it was refreshing, sad, horrifying, and redemptive. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it because it says raw and honest as any book you’ll ever read. I’m looking forward to his future works.
January 29, 2020
Amazing story and outcome Douglas has produced !! Really hits home and I'm sure thousands can relate in some way of the struggles he has endured. From ruling the streets as a kid too having a second chance on accomplishing many goals as an individual and for our community as well. He has made a tremendous impact. I personally have been inspired by him and I hope many will as well.
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August 15, 2019Very entertaining read!! It’s a Page turner for sure filled with many ups and downs. Trials and triumphs. Great Characters and plots. Looking forward to the movie! And the next book!
August 15, 2019
Great and entertaining read!! Can’t wait for the movie!
February 1, 2020
Relatable to people from all walks of life. Very inspirational read!!
April 21, 2020
What an amazing story and book. A must-read! I look forward to Doug's next chapter of his life.
September 22, 2020
Very interesting
A story tht needed to be told! Good point of view and explained the experience in a telling way !
A story tht needed to be told! Good point of view and explained the experience in a telling way !
May 7, 2021
Awesome Book. A real page turner! I reconmend for a virtual joy ride into this kids crazy young life. Cant wait to see the movie.
July 26, 2022
Great read. If you’re from the Tampa Bay Area, it’s a must read. True story of the opioid epidemic blooming in FL in the early 2000s. Dodd tells the story from his POV; he easily captivated me with his narrating. It was gritty, real, and NSFW. 4 stars for minor typos, if that sort of thing bothers you.
November 2, 2023
I really really liked this book. I first read about “the kings of oxy” in a Rolling Stones article for a class in college and have been both baffled, yet fascinated since. It gives Wolf of Wall Street vibes. I recommend reading the article before delving into this book to see if it’s something that might pique your interest. I also had to stop and remind myself (often) that the story was depicted through the lens of Dodd prior to conviction and incarceration. I would encourage future readers to do the same, otherwise some of the experiences might be hard to read.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews