Drug Addiction

Gr 7 Up—Numerous teens of diverse backgrounds share their personal experiences with drug use/abuse. Their interviews alternate with discussion about the physical, emotional, and developmental effects of substance abuse by counselor Tom Davis and Chris Rudd, who runs Advanced House Sober Living. Rudd talks from a personal viewpoint about challenges teens face. Likewise, the young adults make some very compelling points: how seldom teachers notice kids who are using and how subtle the progression to larger amounts and stronger substances can be. Of particular impact are the teens who have seen close friends become enmeshed in substance abuse to the point where they are noncommunicative and unreachable. Viewers will easily understand the pain and frustration. Two young women discuss family members who have addictions. One watched her dad progress from marijuana to crack to heroin and refuse to let her mother eat properly when she was pregnant; buying food took money away from his supply. Another girl talks matter-of-factly about how her father hides bottles under his bed and in the freezer when she visits him.