Chasing the Dragon
Each year more people die from drug overdose than from car accidents or gun violence. Approximately one in five high school seniors reports misusing prescription drugs at least once in their lifetime. A national study in 2014 found that that very year 1.4 million people had abused a prescription painkiller for the first time. Most people who start abusing prescription painkillers usually got the first one from a friend or relative.
It’s relatively easy to become addicted to prescription painkillers such as oxycodone. In fact, a person can become addicted with just one prescription. Most users will agree that it is the most addictive drug they have ever taken. And the minute that drug reaches a person’s bloodstream, he or she will lose control of what it does in their bodies. One woman tells how when her doctor could no longer fill her prescription, she started getting it off the street but it was too expensive. It was then that a friend introduced her to heroin. Chemically, there’s little difference between oxycodone, morphine, and heroin. Just that one comes in a prescription bottle.
Contrary to popular belief, many of those whose lives are ruined by drug addiction come from stable homes with good families. Many of them had great childhoods in which all their needs were met, but they took one wrong turn and were hooked. Once that happens it becomes very difficult to get off the drugs.
Many of those interviewed admit that they began experimenting with marijuana at a very young age, sometimes before age 12. Each of them eventually graduated to harder drugs and became addicted while still in their early teens. None of them stopped to think about what they were getting into, they just did it.
One young man compares being addicted to opiates to chasing a dragon; you’re constantly seeking that first high, that euphoria. What used to cause the sensation at the beginning, won’t work after a while and so the person has to take it to the next level. Nobody sets out thinking that he or she will become a needle-user, but everyone ends up walking down that road.
This film was released by the FBI and the DEA in order to present the reality of drug abuse in such a way that young people would think twice before falling into the trap of addiction. The raw truth is presented in unscripted interviews with some of those who have lived with the consequences of addiction. There is a lot of emotions and profanity as they express what really happens when drugs take over the lives of real people.
Every generation seems to have its drug of choice. This generation seems to be obsessed with drugs that have consequences that are more devastating than anything in the past. Watch this provocative film now.
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When addicts and their families are saying that jail is the ‘best” possible outcome, something is very wrong with the system. When addicts are re using needles and using toilet water to shoot, something is very wrong with the system. When at least two addicts depicted here say they started with a prescription from their doctor something is very wrong with the system. When heroin is cheaper than pills, something is very wrong with the system.
This documentary totally failed to address the system. 2 stars. :(
The purpose wasn’t to offer remedy to a broken system, it was to hopefully prevent someone else from becoming a statistic. My Husband is a SGT with the Department of Corrections, believe me, your right. The system is definitely BROKEN. He comes home with some stories. They aren’t given any rehab in prison. They have no hope if they aren’t strong enough. The system is broken. No doubt.
I was given oxycodone after an operation, and I can see how easy it would be to become totally addicted to this stuff. I’d never felt so good in my life. Unfortunately, it caused me to be careless, and i ripped out my stitches. That wasn’t because I didn’t feel the pain, I just didn’t care. I am grateful my (smart and caring) doctor wouldn’t give me more, or I wouldn’t have been able to stop. I refuse to touch the stuff now, although I have easy access to it. Actually, I’m scared of pretty much all pain meds now, although I will use things like naproxen if absolutely necessary. I hope the people that need to see this video see it. We don’t need rehab if we never get started.
Thank you.. Katrina King (in film) and founder of , An Addict Speaks
Pity this wasn’t about tobacco, a substance that WILL kill 50% of users if used PROPERLY. There seems too much emphasis on people starting down a road they are not prepared for and especially trying to focus on the use of Pot as the culprit.
Life is about many things and making choices is one of them. Becoming addicted to pain meds because they control physical pain and their usage is necessary is one thing. Doing opiods or opiates for ‘fun’ is both crass and stupid.
Remember it wasn’t smack that killed Lou Reed but an excess of alcohol.
I was given Oxycodone after several surgeries. I hate it. I took it this past surgery because the pain was so great. I am an alcoholic, stopped drinking December 2012 after a bout of the flu hospitalized me with ketoacidosis from T1 Diabetes. I never became a drug addict. I am seriously perplexed by that. Wondering why an alcoholic never became addicted to the opiates prescribed to her? Strange don’t you think? I was a smoker also from 1982-2012, some spots in between where I didn’t smoke, like while pregnant. I use vapor cigs now, strange how I just can’t put nicotine down, didn’t want to quit drinking butt became sick, and never became addicted to prescription drugs.