11 minutes / Color
Release: 2007
Copyright: 2007
Cheap, easy to get, and highly addictive, crystal meth has become the drug of choice in North American small towns, not only for teenagers, but for younger kids as well. This provocative film issues a stark warning to young people of all ages, but is especially aimed at those pre-teens and younger children who might be influenced by older kids to "experiment." The program opens with young children talking about what they'd like to be when they grow up, but quickly cuts to an increasingly disturbing series of young and not so young addicts describing what they had wanted to do with their lives before they got hooked. There are interviews with older meth users who have lost jobs, homes, families and — in one case — even limbs because of their drug abuse. Some of the scenes shown are very graphic.
A plain-talking physician explains the mental and physical changes meth can cause; he talks about all the things our brain enables us to do and asks "What part of your brain would you like to do without?" Engaging classroom scenes show students learning and practicing ways of dealing with peer pressure, including "refusal skills," expressing the film's overall message that "you have a choice."
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Methamphetamine, or crystal meth, has become the drug of choice for teenagers in small towns across North America. Highly addictive, cheap, and easy to get, it can cause psychosis, permanent brain damage, and even death. This program documents a year in the lives of three families devastated by this powerful, seductive drug.
Eva Wunderman | 2007 | 45 minutes | Color | English
