The Overtaken

2012, Drugs  -   99 Comments
Ratings: 5.95/10 from 203 users.

Aaron's story was typical - a young man, successful high-school athlete, and a talented football player. Aaron overdosed on Oxycontin and prescription pills in 2005 and he was in a coma for three weeks. His parents were planning his funeral and because of the overdose he's now a quadriplegic. He understands everything and he communicates by using his hands and fingers, one finger for yes and two fingers for no.

Asia Armour almost died in 2009. She attended private high school, she was a cheerleader but when she was 18 she overdosed on Ecstasy. She was in a coma for two months and had complete organ and respiratory failure and she couldn't walk, talk and do simple things. She was in a wheelchair for 5 months. She is two years into her rehab and she's still going through rehab. She can't dance, can't run, and her speech is slow. Her entire life was changed because of that choice she made... she swallowed a tablet of Ecstasy.

One of the girls that testified in this documentary was extremely involved in high-school, she was on the student's government, she graduated high-school with very high GPA and scholarships, and with honors and leaderships she had a great future. She found about alcohol and Ecstasy when she was 17 years old and it took about three months until she was doing Heroin. Her disease escalated quickly, she wanted to try everything and anything, they all had different effect, they all allowed her to feel and do different things, she was very curious, very under-educated about drugs, and she didn't know what she was getting involved into.

Other girl at first was just smoking weed, drinking and taking pills when she could get them and ended up overdosing multiple times, ended up in rehab when she was 14, and ultimately she got hooked on Heroin and she was shooting it for two years. She was able to maintain college for a year and once her problem got serious she basically lost control. She was failing on all her classes, she wasn't showing up on family events, she lost all her jobs that she had had, she was in an abusive relationship with her ex-boyfriend who she used with, and to her the biggest thing she lost was herself.

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99 Comments / User Reviews

  1. Janie

    This was awful. None of these dolts were believable and they were all still playing the blame game. It was this that made me do it. No you idiot you chose to do the drugs. I'm sorry but I don't buy that these kids didn't know how unsafe ecstasy &/or oxy was when they doing it at the height of both of these drugs, not to mention the deaths from these drugs all over social media, television and the internet. Same goes with the heroin denial. Typical 'I live in the south orange county bubble babble'. I guess if you ignore all the bad things they won't happen to you or your children? Well this just proved that wrong.

  2. gaboora

    Okay kids, this vid feels like a commercial, sort of. I get that. But take the true stories seriously. And learn this lesson: drug use is not a disease, but a decision. Some of these persons have quit; you can't quit a disease. One person quit after getting hit with a crowbar; a hit from a crowbar will not get rid of a disease. If you get addicted after taking drugs willingly, it's your decision. Don't blame it on a 'disease.'

    1. mike jones

      Children who have parents that were addicts are much more likely to be addicts themselves even if they were put up for adaption as babies.

    2. Strawberry John

      You Sir, are a complete ignorant m*ron. I am glad that the entire Medical & Psychiatry professions of the civilized world think the nonsense you are spouting about addiction not being a disease is just that. I pray no-one you love ever suffers from this terrible affliction, as basic human empathy is a pre-requisite for helping and understanding an addict, and you seem to be lacking that in abundance.

    3. gaboora

      The fact is, the entire medical world knows that drug addiction is not pathological. Drug addiction, like lust for alcohol and perversion, is a proclivity. If my whole family were addicted, I would maintain the same opinion because truth is more important than everything and everybody. You got that, ignorant one?

    4. Joust

      Unless your a Addict or a Doctor with a Degree, Dont be giving a Diagnosis. Leave to the People that have studied this for Decades.Biology. scientific determination; the identification of diseases by the examination of symptoms and signs and by other investigations

    5. gaboora

      Anyone with a brain can deduce that if you can quit it, it's not cancer, it's not a disease.


    i am a former crack-cocaine user and i have not used for 3 Yrs now but i had both of my knees replaced with steel and now i am on hydrocodone and methadone,and i don't know if i am still am an addict because i am using legal drugs now or what,my counselor says i am not because they are not street drugs but a drug is a drug,but my opinion is that i am because i have surpassed the need to take them because of pain, i take them now because i have become addicted to them ,and i am afraid too tell someone for fear they will take me off and then what am i gonna do about the pain when i do need them,should i say something about this ,i know that i should but i am afraid to,i would really like someone who has been in this situation before to give me some input on this,i am going to tell my therapist ,but i don't know when,i have been with this guy for over 15yrs and i know him pretty damn well and i know he is gonna to say get off of them,but now just like when i got off of crack i was scared i am feeling the same guilt now about this, that i felt then. this was a very good film thanks for it and yes it did help me some and i know that with God's help i will make the right choice

    1. LostMyWay

      Hello friend.

      I have been in the situation of not being able to tell my therapists about my addictions because they will cut my medications and they are also opiates too like hydrocodone.

      In my experience you are probably right to think they will stop or lower your medication on some level to start addiction recovery, but if stopping is your goal then it could be the best route to go, they shouldn't cut you off straight away that would be really bad practice form your doctor in my opinion, your therapist or doctor should sit down and talk to you about a weaning structure of coming off the substance slowly but if your pain from operation is still there and you need pain relief medically then they will for sure find an a way to help you reduce that pain, its your right as a citizen to be prescribed adequate pain relief no matter what your past drug use is.
      I'm obviously speculating, there's no way anyone can know for sure how your individual doctor will react.

      Opiate withdrawal can be very difficult so you are right to be worried about stopping, but if your aim is being clean and you got off crack then I can't see why you wouldn't be able to get off the pain pills with some determination.

      Your counsellor is wrong and ignorant just because its not a street drug doesn't mean its not a problem, its a very serious problem, more people die in America from painkiller abuse than Meth, Heroin and Crack Cocaine combined, its slowly and silently killing the nation from junkies to soccer moms and everyone in between.

      Hydrocodone is an opiate, its the same family as heroin, it is definitely no different from being a street drug addiction except that the risk of contaminated batches or dangerous purity is not the same because its a prescription drug that will always be the same and created in lab conditions.

      Here's the good news.... If you are only taking your prescribed amount and you haven't started to up your regular dose or felt compelled to seek out more of the substance than you started with when you had your operations then I'd say your addiction is manageable at this point and not in a hugely dangerous place. (unless you were prescribed huge amounts) Opiates are a tolerance drug for sure and if they are still working at this dose and you haven't experienced any serious withdrawal or need for extra then I think you're in a good place to stop and I applaud your ability to self recognise this problem so early and want to deal with it before it grows into something else much more damaging and difficult to stop, its a brilliant step and really respectable especially given your drug past.

      And don't feel guilty, there is nothing to feel guilty about, you have not made this choice to become a drug user this time, you had a medical problem that has caused you to require those drugs and like anyone else in this world it can sneak up on you, irrational guilt can be a symptom of depression so if you are suffering from depression then maybe that's all it is and you can start to recognise and handle those feelings of guilt.

      I know I'm 5 months late but good luck man and all the best for the future.

      You are not alone in your struggles.


    2. KEN DAVIS

      thanks you so much for the,it really feel good to KnOw that someone else know just how i feel,and i do really want to stop,and yes i do suffer from depression and P T S D!!MILITARY!! GO FIGURE!!NO HELP FROM THEM EITHER!!GOT A OTHER THAN HONORABLE DISCHARGE SO I CAN'T EVEN GO TO THE VA FOR NOTHING,THEY GAVE ME A LETTER TELLING ME SO,but just knowing that someones out ther cares great,again thanks from the4 bottom of my heart sir.may God Bless you and yours,was in the Army for 13yrs aint that a shame!!no help!!

    3. KEN DAVIS

      thaks you so much for your support and kind words,and i am doing my best to stay the path,may God Bless you and yours,yours in Christ!!!


    As F'd up this world has become ... who can blame anyone for using drugs. The best way to handle Drugs is the one way that works, Portugal has the best solution because it works better then any other.

    1. Don Dressel

      I agree many cops come down on people for smoking pot or taking pills and yet they go home every night and pour the liquor down their throats!

  5. ddaba

    "Her entire life was changed because of that choice she made... she swallowed a tablet of Ecstasy." She took a hell of a lot more than a "tablet". Ecstasy itself will not kill you. It's the failure to hydrate and rest that does it.
    By the way, many of the criminal "issues" depicted in this documentary would be remedied by legalizing drugs.

    1. Don Dressel

      They make people out to be criminals for taking narcotic pills yet those same people in charge going after so called pill poppers drink hard liquor drink after drink every night! I have to take norco everyday because I am in constant pain with my back but I do not drink any alchohol because I think hard liquor kills way more people then anything else!

  6. Karl Lindström

    I'm generally against drugs but I can't help to think the people talking is acting, like reading a manuscript. Somehow it does not feel authentic, I get the same feeling watching a TV commercial.

    1. dmxi

      you have to watch it on smack,crack & pop....>smirk!<!!!!....& you'll feel like you're in a 'commercial'!

  7. Lawrance Jones

    When watching this documentary, it is important to realize that all the people speaking were born with addictive genetic predispositions. They would have abused anything. to claim that Marijuana was the gateway is misleading. most of us do not have addictive personalities and get along just fine regardless. In some cases, Marijuana can help overcome alcohol abuse.

    1. LostMyWay

      Nice comment man, nice to see a non addicted recognising that its neurological t have addictive traits.
      and Cannabis is a gateway drug but only because its illegal and seeking it out puts you in the position of being around rug dealers and users who sell or use other drugs.
      and I believe cannabis can be used in treatment of getting off any substance be it alcohol, opiates or cocaine.

  8. CapnCanard

    I agree drugs are bad. Or they can be bad when done by youngsters who are trying to mimic "adult" behavior that they see around them. These kids all looked like the bright and shinning examples of the "promise" of American youth. BTW, it isn't a promise, it's a lie. Being overly praised, reinforced at their school's is the drug that sunk them. Put these little shits in a real situations instead of the toxic world of safe suburbia. "Suburbia" that false world of social acceptance and herd mentality that easily inflates their egos. It is the old 19th C. paradigm of school, where school is a conditioning system to make automatons meant to work in factories. The message is "Don't question authority, just do your job." We need to have kids be independent of authority and removing authority is the only way to learn independence. BTW, marijuana is a no more a gateway drug than coffee. And an "overdose" of coffee can kill, but an overdose of marijuana has never killed anyone or even severely harmed anyone. And alcohol kills far more than any of the illicit drugs, meanwhile prescription drugs kill more than all the illicit drugs as well. This little film just continues the mistake of ignorance. And ignorance kills more than all drugs. Ignorance is the problem and this film has the pretense of help but it is like the point of the spear that will increase more societal misinformation.

  9. Terry "OldFox" Seale

    I applaud the filmmakers for trying to do something about this tragic problem. Once someone becomes a drug addict, it is really too late without a spiritual miracle to regain their innocence and promise. We've been robbed of so many talented and beautiful people because of this stupidity: Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Edie Sedgewick, Belushi, Dorothy Dandridge, Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston, Kennedy children, and on and on. Sickening.

  10. Alv V

    I haven't seem this after I skimmed trough the comments, but had to comment that films like this probably do more harm then good, when rebellious youth are told not to do something...

    Personally I'm an opiate addict. I really recommend it! The rest of my life I have to take two pills of Subutex every day that taste like **** and makes me gag some days. I get no effect from it whatsoever, I just have to keep using it to prevent getting sick. I know by now that I'll never stop wanting "just one more shot", but at the same time nothing can make me want to return to the life as a drug-abuser with everything that follows that lifestyle.

    And overdose on (one) ecstasy, is that even possible? From what I know, there's only been overdoses on water, because people have been told that the drug makes people forget to drink anything, but just dances until they collapse from dehydration.

    1. docoman

      There was a bad batch, not 100% sure but think they were E's, getting around Aus a few years ago, killed a few people apparently. One fatality was a one pill, first time user at an 18th B'day party if I recall correctly and assuming the news report was accurate. Red Mitsubitsui, something like that they were called (the colour and stamp on them)

    2. jackmax

      G'day Doco,

      The urn returns.......

      Hey mate your spot on there was 12 reported cases from Sydney to Adelaide around 2004 but only one confirmed death from the overdose. He died in hospital two days after being admitted.

      I find it completely astonishing that people will automatically blame MJ as a gateway drug when all the evidence appears to contradict their opinion. It seems that people armed with a little knowledge are more dangerous than those with none.

      I think the anti drug lobby should be trying different methods in educating people, as the scare tactic don't work.
      People are never going to stop taking recreational drugs in my opinion. So may-be a harm minimisation education program would be more effective means to reduce the number of OD that occur.
      Also education and medical assistance would be a more productive means to reduce the number of addicts rather than punishment which seems to be failing on a whole.
      I'm not saying drug dealers should not be held accountable in a court of law as they should be, I'm talking about the user of the substance.

    3. LostMyWay

      The didn't die from ecstasy then. it was a bad pill contaminated with something.
      Prohibition killed them and legalisation would have saved them by regulated production.

    4. bringmeredwine

      My Dear, I urge you to watch Russell Brand's doc, called From Addiction to Recovery. If you can get off your Subutex it will change your life! I'm rooting for you.
      You never know "what" exactly is in that ecstasy pill, or how your body will react to it. I've never heard of anyone overdosing on water! I don't think the bladder would let you.

    5. Pysmythe

      Believe it or not, it is possible to overdose on water. There was a case I read about some years ago about a woman who did just that. To add to the oddity of it, she was said to be an extremely gifted person, with an astronomical IQ. Strangest suicide I ever heard of...

    6. bringmeredwine


    7. Pysmythe

      After my post, I tried hunting down her name/case online so you could read about bizarre it was, but couldn't find hide nor hair of her... However, I found a number of others just about as strange. If you look up the wikipedia article on "water intoxication" and scroll down to the "notable cases" section, you'll see some of them listed, with short case histories.

    8. bringmeredwine

      Thanks, the article on the young lady, Anna Wood, helped to explain this phenomena.

    9. Pysmythe

      Beautiful young lady with her whole life ahead of her. Sad, sad article.

    10. CapnCanard

      Overdosing on water? Well, not quite, it is not overdosing it is called not pissing! Or call it drowning... like water boarding, which is used by our government! Holding "it" will kill you. The way I understand it the body will eliminate excess water via urination. Holding your urine will lead to many organs shutting down... catastrophic for your body. Drowning in water or urine? Some-pin-like-dat... I had heard one girl died from not pissing trying to win a contest sponsored by some radio station.

    11. Pysmythe

      Yeah, the "hold your wee to win a wii" contest, a marvelous little example of DJ brilliancy that ended up costing the station millions, according to wikipedia. And apparently the thing about water intoxication is the imbalance in electrolytes it causes, leading to disruption of brain function... which I would imagine leads to organ failure?

    12. CapnCanard

      "hold your wee to win a wii"? Wow, I remember the story of the girls death but had not heard what "prize" would be "won." I do remember that she had multiple organ failure, but beyond that I don't remember.

    13. Pysmythe

      I didn't remember details, either, until I read the wiki stuff this morning. Also, the actual winner of the contest, when she showed up to claim the prize, was violently ill. A nurse tried to warn the station about the potential danger, but they claimed they "were aware of it," and that waivers had been signed to protect them... Whole lotta sh-t went down over that one.

    14. Terry Beaton

      Yes, you definitely can overdose on water. It was in the news a while ago when someone was using the drinking of large amounts of water as a punishment for their children. They ended up causing the child's death from too much water at once. It shuts down the liver or something.

    15. dmxi

      i'm going down from 8mg's (suboxone) & am currently at 2mg's &
      next month 1mg is the's 'do-able' if you're sick & tired
      of dependence & 'bearable' if you take it 'step-by-step' giving your
      body & mind the time .it cringe's me thinking of the rest of my life
      in symbiosis with chemical aid.i was 'tough' enough to step into the
      ring & i'm not planning to leave the ring with my feet out
      first......that alone gives me hope (strength) to kick that 'once so
      pleasant' habit! i wish you godspeed & an epiphany that will help
      you to reach all you wish to reach!
      with kind regards...........-a brother in arms-

    16. Alv V

      Thanks a lot for your words. I'm at 16mg myself, but will wait some more, perhaps a couple of years, or as long as it take until I have the old life and left completely behind me. I don't want to end up back on the street just because I don't like the thought of using state-sponsored chemicals the rest of my life.

      It's an amazing achievement if you're able to stop using it. The reason for getting it in the first place, is the idea of being incurable and there's few that manages to prove them wrong.

      Good luck with that, I wish you the very best for your life.

    17. docoman

      You seem smart and strong enough to not end up back down that dead-end street mate, you saw where that road goes. It's hard when you can't 'see the light at the end of the tunnel' sometimes, but your pic looks only young, and you're obviously self aware enough and smart enough to start the process of seeing the problem and doing something about it. dmxi gave good advice in my opinion mate, take it step by step. Keep chipping away at the boulder, one day you'll find that its small enough to pick up and toss away. (an analogy that's helped me in long, hard times) Keep 'truckin' mate, you've got this. :)

    18. dmxi

      why was my comment (to alv v) not approved?please reply as notice for future use.....thanks up front.

    19. over the edge

      hey dmxi
      disqus thought that "body & mind the time .it" was a link ( i put the space between time. and it) in the future leave a space between all (.)'s

    20. dmxi

      cheers edge....

    21. jackmax

      It would appear you don't know as much as you think, as there was a case in Australia in 2004 that 12 people overdosed on a pill called Red Mitsubitsui also called Red Death. One of the victims was only 18 and a first time user that had only taken half a pill. These pills contained para-methoxyamphetamine (PMA) compared to the normal 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) used in most other ecstasy pills. The (PMA) has a different effect than (MDMA).

      The director of emergency services at St Vincent hospital in Sydney, Professor Gordian Fulde said.
      "When it goes bad it acts very differently on the patient than any of the other [recreational] drugs. None of the other ones melt you down like that,"
      He went on to say that, "Basically what happens is you just
      cook from inside. The actual machinery inside each cell just melts down and bursts and that is the end of it."
      At no stage did he or any other expert say anything about water being the contributing factor in the overdoses that have happened.
      Can you site any references from where you got your information on overdoses on water as I find that to be extremely hard to believe.

    22. ddaba

      Then the drug wasn't X! I don't like X; it messes with your brain, and it does have long-term effects on the brain, but it is relatively harmless physiologically. In most cases, the main danger is dehydration and hyperthermia. If you take them like candy, well, you're really too stupid to live, aren't you?

    23. jackmax

      Who said anything about taking them like candy? I read that one victim only had half a pill so taking them like candy is your spin on what occurred.

    24. LostMyWay

      Its not ecstay though! Don't you understand such a simple concept?

      If MDMA was legal these people wouldn't of died. FACT.

      People die from bad pills not MDMA.

      MDMA is safer than many substances you are prescribed by doctors or even alcohol, if dehydrated correctly (not too much not too little) then virtually nobody would die from it except people with undiagnosed heart conditions.

    25. Alv V

      Well, then they didn't overdose on ecstasy. It's not MDMA if it's PMA. I've had Mitsubishi's myself and all they did was making me tell everyone that I loved them.

      It's not news that some pushers manages to get cynical enough to earn their cash by murder. I'd been dead a long time ago if I used everything I was handed.

    26. docoman

      If my memory servers me correctly, you probably didn't have any from that particular batch of Mitsubishi's, unless you were in Australia at the time or had one delivered from here. I believe it was an Aussie cook/batch apparently. (I could be wrong, I had nothing to do with them and thus I don't know for sure their origin, just what I remember reading or hearing from others I know in that scene that were around it then )
      You should know why they're called that, the Mitsubishi's, do you?

      The point being in this context though mate, they were sold as E's (by more then just one 'cynical' dealer, by many dealers thinking that's what they were selling, until it hit the news, AFTER it was already a problem). Selling them after that would've been asking to get busted, 'clients' here had heard about them on the news so probably weren't buying them if possible anymore, non-lethal OD's up the chances of it coming back to bite the dealer. I bet there were a few losses taken on those deals.

      Whether they were actually chemically E's or not I don't suppose matters much to the OD cases now, that's what they thought they'd taken.

    27. Alv V

      They are called red Mitsubishi because they are red and have the Mitsubishi logo on them... :] There's dozens of different types of colors, shapes and stamps on them, and hence the name they got, not sure though if there's any other meaning behind it then to give a clue about who produced it, or if some got more MDMA then others. And yes, I meant I used genuine M's not the Aussie/poisonous ones.

    28. docoman

      Yeah, that's them mate. That's one of the big problems with many recreational drugs in my opinion. You don't know who made them, what's in them, or what quality the ingredients are. (the Red M's you've seen look the same as the one's that were here by the sounds.) I just read somewhere else on TDF in the last few days, someone saying something about OD's in the UK as well, apparently from 1 pill.
      Well done in seeing where that path will take your life, and doing what you need to, to change it. You're miles ahead of most people in that you're doing something about it, good on ya mate. Stay strong Alv, don't forget the 'sh1t' part of addiction.
      I've described it as 'chocolate covered sh1t' before. It might look inviting at first, but when you get into it, it's actually mostly just cr@p.
      You worried me a tad at first, asking after you've used it can one OD from it. Other way around is the better way mate. Seems now you know that anyway.
      You've got this Alv V, kick it's ass mate. :)

    29. LostMyWay

      If MDMA was legal we would know who made them and their strength and nobody would die from bad pills.

    30. LostMyWay

      Of course it matters, you cant say ecstasy killed someone when it wasn't the ecstasy that killed them.
      of course it doesn't matter to the dead person they're dead.
      Drug users have a personal responsibility to understand drugs, their effects, their dangers and their source.
      Millions of ecstasy tablets are taken every week throughout the west alone, if ecstasy killed the bodies would be piling up in the street.
      and the fact is if MDMA was legal nobody would die from "bad pill" again, its prohibition that is causing these deaths not MDMA. So that makes it extremely important if they were chemically MDMA or not.
      Of course we know why they're called dam Mitzis, don' the so patronising. The girls a dam ex heroin addict.
      The joke about Es is that "everyone's first is a Mitzi", mine was too, a tiny one, they were know as "Super Mitzis"

    31. stiltskin

      Poisoning yourself to death from taking PMA is not an Ecstasy overdose if we accept that Ecstasy is the common street name for MDMA. If I drink a carton of orange juice laced with arsenic and then die; did I die from an orange overdose?..

    32. jackmax

      Are you joking or is that the best you have?
      That is like the overdose of water statement in my opinion and I'll show it the contempt it deserves!!!!!

    33. LostMyWay

      It wasn't ecstasy then was it? It was a cut pill and that's not an Ecstasy or MDMA overdose, its an overdose of an unknown substance to the user.

    34. Don Dressel

      Everyone talks about pills and pot but what about hard liquor? I think opiates are beneficial if you do not abuse them.

    35. LostMyWay

      No, overdose on that amount of MDMA isn't possible, but most likely it wasn't an overdose of MDMA it was more likely to have been a bad pill with something extremely harmful contaminating it.

      Good luck in your struggle.

  11. Mads Djervig

    Not a very informative documentary. Focuses more on the emotional aspect of drug abuse, than on actual facts. Makes a lot of claims about drugs, without ever really providing any data to back it up. I suspect that there is a religious organization behind this productions. Perhaps scientology. Either way - I call BS.

    1. bringmeredwine

      This IS a very emotional issue for the families and friends of the drug users who become hopelessly addicted to the hard stuff. They are completely devastated emotionally and the fall out can go on forever, trust me.

    2. LostMyWay

      That wasn't his argument.

  12. bringmeredwine

    I don't agree that weed is a gateway drug. I do agree that oxys will devastate you and yours if you miss use them.


    this is a propaganda and a very bad one I' tried opana not once and I'am not addicted to that because the first time ,and i' can stop anytime I' want gradually and never had a problem.These kids just acted and said what been told to Demonized the drug yes overdose happen yes peoples die from these drugs it's clear because they don't know how to take them and you don't need opana when you 15 and healthy but don't blame everything on the pills blame it on the government who manufacture these so called dangerous drugs everything can kill you these day's it was legal before so what are these jokers talking about

  14. Damien

    These people are actors. Everyone was told to say weed first. They all have lines they have memorized. This is psyops.

  15. Nikita Kade

    Oh, honestly.

    I feel for the people in this film who were damaged by their drug use. But the film itself was about as relevant and informative as reading tea leaves--especially if the tea leaves spell out DRUGS ARE BAD!! We are not spared a single cliche here: A) Marijuana is a "gateway drug," Take one puff, and the next day you'll be Joe Junkie wrapping a Walmart bag around your bicep in the store bathroom, to shoot that rat poison-laced dose of heroin into your vein. B) All opiate drugs are terrible and should never be used by anyone but dying cancer patients, preferably after they're dead. C) Pot is worse than alcohol (I might just have been falling asleep from boredom or Xanax by then, but I don't recall hearing alcohol mentioned in here at all) and tobacco put together. D) Your life experiences before drugs have nothing to do with your eventual involvement with drugs; the fact is that all drugs are the work of Satan and will possess your soul, even though your existence was undoubtedly perfect before you took that first sniff, puff, or swallow.

    These are the kinds of films that do nothing to educate people as to the real and complex issues behind drug use and the actual dangers of specific drugs; they are extended versions of sanitized public service sermons, and do zilch in terms of providing relevant knowledge and sensible advice that people (especially young ones) might actually listen to. Instead, they demonize certain drugs (like pot and Oxycontin) without explaining the science behind them, leaving the impression that the drugs themselves, rather than how they are taken and how they can be used safely, are at fault. They seek to frighten rather than enlighten, and their tactics haven't changed at all in the years since "Reefer Madness" was shown on the big screen. It's all still just that silly.

    Surely, if we want to inform a younger generation about the pros, cons, and realities of drug use, we can do a lot better than this.

    1. Rebshort

      Hey Nik. Nicely said. I even recognize the obvious South Park reference and your familiarity with the work of Bill Hicks. I would like to add my voice to the understanding that marijuana is way more helpful than it ever could cause trouble. If all these various addicts just smoked marijuana there wouldn't have been a need for a documentary.

    2. Nikita Kade

      Amen. Let's get off this drug witch hunt and turn to more important things. Like blaming Canada.

    3. Rebshort

      We accept. Naive, innocent bastards that we are.

  16. rodrigo

    If someone is going to make a documentary make sure you use references to real information and not just urban myths. Also it needs to be truthful. Marihuana is NOT a gate way drug, It could be for SOME, a very little % but the truth is not for all! As with everything in life there isn't such thing as one size fits all. So if you put a testimony of some one that happened to have marihuana as a gate way drug, fine but also say it is their case and is not and absolute truth for EVERYONE!

  17. Alan Baca

    Shows how worthless American education is, and how religious interference makes it even stupider.

  18. Louis W Polo

    Seriously, if you're going to publish something, have it proof-read first! Otherwise, it may take away from your credibility as being a source for good information.

  19. a_no_n

    prohibition is the cause behind these lost lives.
    If prohibition was gone today, overdoses would drop by tomorrow, because people would be more educated on just what an overdose is.

    In portugal where all drugs have been decriminalised, the rates of hard drug users have actually fallen, because the stigma of being an addict has gone and so people are much more open to getting help which is more widely available.

    the Gateway argument is also a complete fallacy.
    "x smoked weed, now x uses heroin therefore weed is a gateway drug"

    well X probably drank orange juice at some point too...In fact you could probably prove that most heroin users also drink orange this video's logic we should therefore ban orange juice too just to be on the safe side.
    I don't know a single person who is a heroin user, and i hang around almost exclusively with other cannabis smokers...the gateway doesn't exist, and if it does, it's on unfair society road not cannabis street.

    1. Paul Gloor

      You strike a few good points, prohibition of Marijuana is probably why its a 'gateway drug', the only people you can get it from push other stuff too.

    2. a_no_n

      i've smoked cannabis my entire life, and i have never met a cannabis dealer who deals anything harder.

      Most cannabis dealers sell to support their own smoking habit.

    3. LostMyWay

      I can guarantee that a lot of people get introduced to other drugs from their weed dealer.
      Your cannabis dealers are DRUG dealers, they are users supporting their habit, their is a massive difference, not everyone is lucky to have such dealers.

    4. a_no_n

      the "Gateway drug" argument you're trying to shoehorn into this conversation has been well and truly debunked. There is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that the gateway effect exists in any way, shape, or form.

      Your guarantees aren't worth the pixels they're made from.

      It's not about luck, it's about not being an idiot when looking for a dealer. If it looks like the guy does more than just weed, then i won't go to him again because chances are he's sprayed the weed with something or it's going to be crap.

      Most weed dealers I know are students making some money for themselves or guys just trying to pick up a bit of spare cash.


      you so right about this only here in America such a big deal if you addicted to something what the government made possible for us to take ,even in Holland they have less addiction and drama because they don't demonetize these substances and about the gateway it's absolutely not true you have to start with Marijuana they just guessing and because they don't exactly known it's easy to say yeah the gateway drug is Marijuana .I' don't started with Weed at all and I' know a lot of peoples who did not so what happened to the theory?anyway this film is just another NA propaganda

    6. LostMyWay

      End prohibition is the answer to people dying from bad drugs. Its the only logical answer.

  20. dewfall

    Ride horses, bikes, skateboards and quads, skydive, wing walk, surf, drive fast cars, bungee jump, bridge swing, paraglide, zorb, sit on white plastic garden chairs, tightrope walk across the Grand Canyon, climb trees, and cross roads. It's ok to damage or kill yourself doing any of the above, just a tragic accident whilst doing something you loved ;)

    1. Pysmythe

      Anyone who tight-rope walks across the Grand Canyon is on drugs.

    2. Paul Gloor

      Hence the common adage, "WTF are you smoking ?!?"

    3. Pepe Alvarado

      One of those expressions that are ironic, as you have to be sober as water to concentrate for such a task.

  21. Guest

    Wow First time I've had a comment removed!?

    Seriously though the doc does have some value to it.

    1. a_no_n

      that's my favourite thing about this website, all documentaries have value to them because the discussion on them is given plenty of room and not restricted (except when the posts get into the hundreds and thousands, but by that point everything worthwhile has been said.)

  22. jaberwokky

    My god, that was just awful. 27 minutes of people saying "Just say no" and then it was over. No reasoning, no story, bad acting, questionable motives, crap music, frightening make-up and not one single fact in the entire thing. I don't think this belongs on TDF to be honest, this is youtube fodder.

    Edit: I stand corrected. I forgot about the guy in the lab coat telling us how pealing the skin off oxycodone capsules guarantees a better hit. Yep, there's a single fact for you kids.

    1. ~Oliver B Koslik Esq

      Thats pessimistic hogwash...Jaberwokky.
      Did you Not notice the quadriplegic?

      Sure it wasn't "Thee Best" but the point is heartfelt, which completes its stumble. I didn't like the cannabis bashing bit of it tho...

      Alcohol is a much more dangerous, in terms of addiction and "gateway-ish" than "The Pot" will ever be.

      All the pharma-lax junk is just s**t... I still have vivid memories of sweaty friends struggling to breath in my room. And sleepless nights spent furiously masturbating in order to find some sort of solace, from x,y or z withdraw.

      Everything they mentioned is true and 100% valid.

      But until the "medicate the mediocre population" mentality declines, the uneducated and "invincible" youth will always wanna see how f****d up that s**t that (mom/dad/uncle/cousin) takes... will really get you.

      Its quite the juxtaposition when the market is flooded with them legally, and "the minimized" (natural) alternatives could land you in jail.

    2. jaberwokky

      Huh?!? What the hell are you blabbering about?

      Hogwash? I'm saying that this documentary is devoid of any substance. Point out the substance of the doc to me and then we'll talk. Ranting about "Big Pharma" and alcohol will not cut it. And where exactly was the pessimism in what I said? You might need to look up the definitions for pessimism, skepticism, opinion and cynicism in a dictionary and compare them.

      Your comment reads like a bunch of prefabricated nonsense that was copy/pastaed from your desktop. Perhaps you should have waited the extra hour or two for someone from the other side of the conspiracy fringe to weigh in before you off loaded on me.

      If anything you are the one spouting the pessimistic hogwash you dolt.

    3. ~Oliver B Koslik Esq

      Without definition: I used "pessimist" to describe your defeatist attitude of something that has only good intention.

      I stand by my words Mr.Jabberwonkey...perhaps it is you, that should get a clue.

    4. jaberwokky

      You think this diatribe has points worth arguing? What were the points and where and when were they mentioned?

      Edit: Good intentions have led to some terrible consequences.

    5. ~Oliver B Koslik Esq

      Point was:
      Don't do drugs.

      Illustration of the point included:
      The f*****g quadriplegic!

      {face palm}

    6. Guest

      Ah right yeah, just say no, because telling people no and leaving it at that has worked out so well up until now. No need for a proper set of talking points when you see a guy in a wheelchair. Yup, sounds good.

      Good luck with that.

      Edit: By the way, it's quadriplegic. That's the second time you got it wrong,

    7. jaberwokky

      Ah right yeah, don't do drugs. Because telling people what to do and what not to do without educating them as to why has worked out very well up until now. Besides, who needs talking points when you have a guy in a wheelchair? Just say no.

      Yeah, good luck with that.

      By the way, did you change it from quadrophonic to quadriplegic before or after my last comment was removed?

    8. ~Oliver B Koslik Esq

      Yeah... I even misspelled "face palm"
      ...originally it was "face plam".

    9. jaberwokky

      Well I got a laugh out of it anyway, quadrophonic seems like a good word :)

      Perhaps you and I should not be arguing. I think we probably have a similar opinion regarding the damage drugs can do, just a differing opinion on the value of this doc.

    10. steviecomment

      Drugs are bad mmmmkay.

    11. ~Oliver B Koslik Esq

      +1 for "Dolt"

    12. a_no_n

      well, the Romans enjoyed getting wasted just as much as we do, so it looks like the "mentality" you mention has been around for about as long as civilisation has...Maybe getting high is just a natural thing for humans to want to do?

      i also disagree that everything in this video is 100% true...i've noticed logical fallacies and misrepresented facts and that's just in the blurb!

    13. CapnCanard

      Didn't the Romans have a special are or building called the Vomitorium?

    14. a_no_n

      yes...but in all fairness to them it wasn't for what you'd think it might be's actually a passageway that was in Colosseum's that they would open after the games to let the crowds flow out more quickly.