Several documentaries on heroin have come out recently and offer a pwerful look at one of the world's most devastating drugs.
Invisible - Heroin Addicts Speak,
"After the crumbling of the Soviet empire, heroin flooded the streets of many cities behind the former Iron Curtain. It offered an alternative lifestyle largely unknown until then. In the late 1990s heroin addiction in Eastern Europe had reached epidemic proportions. Invisible takes place in Sofia, Bulgaria and follows a group of six young people on a three year journey through the highs and lows, dreams and tribulations of life with heroin addiction. The story bypasses the social problems and dynamics associated with addiction and focuses on the existential views and philosophy of the participants; it becomes a platform for their ideas and concepts of the world surrounding them. The participants represent a group of "social outcasts", who remain largely invisible in society.
Facing the Habit
Can a root that grows in West Africa successfully treat heroin addicts and break the cycle of addiction? Dave is a former stockbroker whose life has spiraled out of control due to heroin addiction. A one-time millionaire, he is now reduced to petty theft as a means to supply his habit. Desperate to get help, Dave travels to Mexico for treatment with Ibogaine, a controversial plant-based drug reported to be the most powerful known treatment for drug addiction. FACING THE HABIT is an intimate look into the life of an addict, before, during, and after this last-ditch attempt at hope.
ADDICTION
An HBO special - Bringing together the nation's leading experts with award- winning filmmakers, it consists of nine separate segments, including: "Saturday Night in a Dallas ER," by Jon Alpert; "A Mother's Desperation," by Susan Froemke and Albert Maysles; "The Science of Relapse," by Eugene Jarecki and Susan Froemke; "The Adolescent Addict," by Kate Davis and David Heilbroner; "Brain Imaging," by Liz Garbus and Rory Kennedy; "Opiate Addiction: A New Medication," by D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus; "Topiramate: A Clinical Trial for Alcoholism," by Alan and Susan Raymond; "Steamfitters Local Union 638," by Barbara Kopple; and "Insurance Woes," by Susan Froemke.
