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(music)
(music)
(music)
(music)
In the next 24 hours
3500 teenagers will try illegal drugs for the first time.
I'm Leeza Gibbons.
With more than 4 million American teenagers
currently using drugs, it's clear "Just Say No"
isn't enough.
Today's kids are being raised by parents who
lived through the drug culture of the 60's and 70's.
If our generation survived, why shouldn't they?
But, the truth is, drugs
were dangerous then and they're even more dangerous now.
Marijuana and *** are two to five times more potent
and emergency room admissions for drug overdoses
have increased by two thousand percent. The truth is
until you know what drugs can really do to your body
your brain, and your life, it may not seem like there is
a reason to just say no.
We asked the teens featured in this hour what they
had to say.
(music)
My name is Alexis, I'm 17 years old.
My name is Ryan, and I'm 17.
My name is Kyrsten, I am 16 years old.
My name is Jesse, I am 17 years old.
"It's fun."
"Taking drugs is fun, every time you do it you know you're gonna have a fun experience"
" Even with acid, I've never had a bad trip."
"Drugs are easier to get than alcohol is."
"Marijuana is an everyday thing."
"Quaaludes and stuff are pretty cool"
"I like all the hallucinogenics."
"Special K, Circle K..."
"White Heavens"
"Rolls"
"Smurfs"
"E, Ex..."
"Hits, Fry"
"They have so many drugs now that make you feel so good, it's 'why not'?"
"I don't really see a reason to stop, 'cause I'm havin' a lot of fun doin' em."
Ecstasy, marijuana, and acid may seem harmless and fun.
These four San Diego teenagers are about to get a look
at the other side of the popular party drugs.
Although they agreed to take part in the day's events,
they have no idea what we've planned for them.
At the first stop, drug counselor Shawn O'Hara, hands out teen files backpacks,
and the day begins.
"You like to get high?"
"Yeah."
"How do you know you're getting what you think you're getting?"
"You don't know what you're getting, you just put integrity within whoever you're getting
it from."
"Oh, that nice drug dealer, right?"
"Exactly!"
(knocking)
A knock on the door interrupts the group...
"We just received received information about a party last night
and there were four local teenagers involved.
Uh, there was drug usage involved.
As I'm talking to you, there's three of the teenagers are in the hospital.
One of them is really in serious condition.
Somebody here may have been involved in the party,
either supplying drugs or selling drugs,
so we need to resolve that as quickly as we can.
What I would like you to do is take your backpacks please
and come over here and set 'em on the floor."
The kids don't know it, but today we've enlisted the help of a number
of organizations, including the San Diego police department
to show them what it can be like to live a drug nightmare.
(telling the dog to sniff the backpacks)
"Kyrsten?"
"Yeah?"
"Could you come over here please?"
"Sure."
A
search of a hidden compartment in the backpack
reveals a surprise that we have planted.
Props that appear to be the illegal drugs
Ecstasy, marijuana, and the liquid tranquilizer GHB.
"Okay Kyrsten, at this point you are under arrest
for possession of narcotics and in this amount
you can be arrested for sales.
Kyrsten, you have the right to remain silent.
If you give up the right to remain silent
anything you do say can and will be used in court against you.
You have the right to speak with an attorney of your choice,
or your parents,
before questioning, and to have your attorney or your parents
present during questioning.
If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed
for you by the court prior to any questioning.
Do you understand each these rights that I have explained to you?"
"Yes, sir."
With Kyrsten facing time in prison, the group moves on
to find out the fate of the other three teens at the party.
"When the cop walked in and was like, yeah, something happened...
I thought, like seriously, not myself 'cause I knew where I was.
thinkin' it was one of you guys.
My heart was goin' like a million miles an hour, I"m all..."
When getting high, how much can you trust those around you?
"If you're in a group, your friends are always going to take care of you."
"No girl goes to a party by herself."
"I don't go somewhere with the attitude that like,
you know, is this going to be the time that someone date-rapes you,
or
someone does this?
I just feel like you can"t live your life that way.
But sometimes, just being in a situation where drugs are used,
can hold unforeseen dangers.
The next stop for the group is a hospital clinic.
"Hi! Is there an Alexis here?"
"Alexis, I'm Robin, nice to meet you."
"I am a *** crisis counselor here in San Diego county... and uh
the police department said that your parents had called
that you were at a rave last night
and possibly some drugs were put in your drink
and you were sexually, maybe physically assaulted?"
"Do you have any memory about what happened to you last night?"
(shakes head 'no')
"Okay, there were some witnesses said that you were unconscious
and that you, there were three males about your age
that may have sexually assaulted you. You might start
remembering things that happened,
even though you were blacked out from the Ecstasy.
That is normal for a *** victim.
Do you have any other questions?"
(shakes head 'no')
"No."
Robin has more to tell the group.
"Well, the reason why I am here and doing what I am doing is
because I also loved raves, I was totally into
Ecstasy, that was my drug of choice.
I went to a rave one night with about four or five friends.
They were all girls.
When Robin wasn't looking, a man spiked her drink with the drug Ecstasy,
and then led her away from the party.
"...and I was so high at the time that I didn't even know what I was drinking.
I couldn't taste it.
And I uh... kind of hard to talk about.
But, I kind of blacked out for a couple minutes
and I woke up and he was inside of me.
And, he was raping me and he hit me.
It was a long time ago, but
it's like it has affected my whole life.
Besides this terrible experience with the ***
I've had a lot of chemical problems because of the Ecstasy on my brain.
You know I've been in recovery like 3 years now
and I've had flashbacks to the ***.
It's something that happened, and I"ll never be the same again.
You know, I was just having fun.
So um, I hope that you guys can learn from what happened to me."
"Definitely. You lose faith in a lot of people.
Just seeing different side of people that you might see partying and things like that.
I really understand, and I'm really sorry you had to go through that.
I think it's horrible to happen to anybody.
Hits a little too close to home."
Next, the nightmare continues as we find out
what happens to the remaining teens.
"Can you tell me what drugs you took?"
"You're gonna feel a stick here and then we're gonna get you
to the hospital Juan, as soon as I get this started. There you go."
(ambulance siren)
(music)
With one of our teens under arrest,
and the other a victim of *** assault,
the glimpse into their future continues.
At Scripps Mercy Hospital they learned one of them was found unconscious at the party.
Witnesses say he was taking the drug, GHB.
"All we know is this was a 17 year old male whose name is Jesse,
he was one of three people
who were badly intoxicated.
He was found down, and it was unclear whether or not
he had been traumatized.
This is Jesse's CAT scan, and what this shows us
he does not have any bleeding in his brain,
like he would have if he'd gotten hit.
But, his brain is swollen, and that's because his brain
we think, was starved for oxygen from the drugs he took.
The problem with many of the drugs, the drugs he was taking
is it's a fine line between getting high and then being out.
It could go very badly in the next 36 hours.
His brain could just swell so badly that all the blood
flow is cut off in his brain, and he dies."
One capful of GHB is equivalent to six cups of alcohol.
Overdosing on this toxic liquid can happen in an instant.
Changing a life, forever.
In the summer of 1999, 25 year old
Sydon Wells was at a club with friends.
His sister Carly remembers...
"He got handed a water bottle that was filled with GHB.
He drank a lot of it, and he did not know um
that this guy had taken all the active ingredients in GHB, and doubled them.
He basically was guinea pigging people that night.
My brother was dead five minutes later.
The ambulance came and resuscitated him,
but he was in a coma for two weeks.
When they brought him back, he had a lot of brain damage."
Sydon survived but he now lives in a convalescent home.
He agreed to meet with our teens.
"This is my brother Sy."
"Hi."
"Hi."
"Hey."
"How are you?"
"Good."
"This is my mom."
"Hi I'm Karri."
"Hi."
Sydon's mother mother will never forget those
first few weeks.
Wondering if her son would live or die.
"They let me know that they did not know
how long it would take for him to come back.
Or what kind of shape he would be in when he did come back.
(garbled speech)
They took the respirator out and then
he went back into a coma for five days.
And we really didn't know what was gonna happen then."
"Okay one, two, three... Nice and tall, nice and tall."
(garbled speech)
Sydon is now trying to recover from the effects
of the overdose with the help of his family
and a physical therapist.
No one knows if he will ever be the same.
"He will never go back to being the person he was before, totally.
I hope he can regain his sight.
He said to me one day, 'Mom, I wish I could see.'
and it just really broke my heart."
(garbled) "Do not do GHB, be very careful."
"Aw..."
"Yeah."
"Let's go."
"Bye you guys."
"Bye bye."
"It makes me not want to take GHB, but even
more like, not do any drugs.
But, then I think like, then how am I gonna
be around the people I love, to make sure that they don't?
'Cause I know that I would never wanna see
someone that I love so much, be like that."
"People don't go out with the intention, thinking like that.
They're thinking, I'm gonna go have a good time.
You never expect something like Sy's case
to happen.
It just like, tears you apart."
"You think you're so strong, and to be
just so crippled, and not be able to defend
for yourself.
I'm lucky I haven't probably already died."
Thinking that their nightmare has ended,
the teens relax.
But we still have one more surprise in store for them.
The San Diego Fire department arrives
saying they are responding to a 911 call
of a 17 year old male in cardiac arrest.
"You can't tell me what drugs you took?
Okay, you're gonna feel a stick here and we will get you to the hospital."
Witnesses at the party reported that Ryan
had been mixing marijuana, ecstasy, and alcohol.
"You're gonna be at the hospital in a little bit."
When they're unable to get a normal heart beat,
Ryan is rushed to the emergency room.
ER doctor Shawn Evan, takes over.
"Let's get a second IV and open his fluids up
at this point.
And, can we get the oxygen on at 100 percent?
Is he still on the monitor?
I don't like it, listen!
We're gonna assess your breathing and
were gonna put a tube down your mouth
a tube into your throat
you're gonna choke a little bit."
"His mom is here."
"Okay, tell her he's critical and we'll
be out in a moment to talk with her."
"Okay."
Without Ryan's knowledge, we asked his mother June
to be a part of this scenario.
"He's grading way down, I don't even feel a pulse.
You know what... let's shock him.
Come on, we gotta move, this guy is going to drop here
he's a young kid.
Good, paddles up, charge to 200.
200 Joules."
"Clear, shock!"
"Alright, we got anything? We got nothing.
Continue CPR.
I'm going to talk with his mom real quick
give him 300 Joules.
All we can hope for at this point is that we can make
him a donor at this point.
We're hoping we can keep his heart alive.
Sometimes the brain won't come back.
I'm going to go ahead and let you think about that
and talk with Jane.
We're gonna get pastoral care here.
No, let's hold for now, I think we're going to pronounce him dead.
It's presently 16:45, let's pronounce him dead
at this point."
"The time is 16:45."
"We gave him the best that we could
in terms of keeping him alive.
But as I said, his tragectory from the time that
the paramedics arrived on scene, was bad.
I'm really sorry.
(music)
"Ryan, if this really happened, my heart
would be broken beyond repair.
I'm half shaking Ryan.
I'm shaking, your hands are cold too."
"It makes you stop and think about what I've been doing."
"Think it's going to make a difference?"
"Thank God."
"Drugs affect other people than yourself
you know I never really stopped and realized
it's too much to put your family through
they don't deserve it.
They didn't ask for it, you're the one
He's only 17, that's real
then he would be gone
and then thinking about it,
that could have
been anybody that I love.
I think I am changed for life,
I don't know why anyone after what you saw like
could really want to go do drugs.
(music)
Next, a deadly high you can get
in your own home.
(music)
When your grades start
suffering and you get in trouble at school,
you'll say it's just because your teachers hate you
when you get caught stealing nail polish remover
you'll say you were just borrowing them.
When sores appear around your mouth,
you'll say they are just zits.
When your breath smells like chemicals,
you'll say it was something you ate.
Your parents and teachers, they will probably believe you
but there is one way when they will eventually
find out. It's called an autopsy.
The truth is, at least one person a day dies
from sniffing inhallants
and chances are it's the first time they tried it.
Most kids know that drugs are bad,
but this group from Bakersfield California
have found another way to get high.
It's legal in most states,
and as easy as looking under the kitchen sink.
On the danger level,
inhallants is like 5 or 6
somewhere in the middle
and it's everywhere
it's anywhere
Like they go spray paint or something
tag on the wall and get high at the same time.
That's like free right there, free drug.
You say it's gasoline, that was your thing.
"I used spray paint."
"How about you, Jenna?"
"Same thing, spray paint."
"aerosol"
"everything"
"anything that says flammable on the side"
"It made me feel on top of the world"
"you know like on tv when it goes snowy?"
"it's like that, you don't feel nothin,
you don't see nothin, you don't see nothin"
"you guys think it's as bad as heroine, ***?"
" I don't think so."
"Kids don't see a spray paint can bust or something like that"
"That's because inhallants aren't drugs, they're poisons."
Today Chief Coroner Jim Maloof
is going to show our group what happens
when you don't get caught huffing.
"How come you are covering your noses?"
"because it smells."
"You're smelling death is what you're smelling."
"You wanna know what huffing does to the brain?"
"That's real blood?"
"you bet it is, and it's a real brain,
it's not fake."
"I don't wanna leave, but I have to throw up."
"Right here where the spinal comes out the bottom
that's what makes you tick,
that's what makes you work.
It's not going to be able to do that for you anymore
when you huff. That's why you are going to be
killed on a traffic. That's why when you go
under water, you're going to drowned."
"Let's take a look at the heart."
"Eww."
"Look like the heart you give your girlfriend
or your boyfriend on Valentine's Day?"
"You can do a real quick huffing,
it's going to change the rhythm of your heart
to where you are not going to be able to get
that oxygenated blood through your body.
It's just not going to work."
"This is actually an overdose death."
"On what?"
"Pam."
"It's nothing but an aerosol fat
it went in there and filled that lung up
with fat. Couldn't breath anymore
and the person died as a result of it."
"You can take heroine, you can take ***,
you can take ***, you can put them all together
and it's still not equal what you're going to do
when you're huffing.
Because every organ in your body
is being effected by huffing,
and you can't get it out of your body."
"Sudden sniffing death is like Russian Roulette.
It can happen the 100th time you inhale,
it can happen the 1st time."
"And your death can happen at a drop of a hat."
"I don't understand why my name is up there."
"Cause he's trying to prove a point
of what can happen."
"I got the point straight through,
I just don't like my name being up there.
"And we hope it's never up there either,
we never wanna see it up there.
And the only reason I do this is and it's not to scare
people. It's to get you to realize
this is real life.
This is what we deal with on a daily basis.
We want to see you grow up the way you are
suppose to grow up.
Young people are not suppose to die."
"Fire Department."
"Yes. I need some help.
My son is not breathing."
Wade Heiss was only 13 years old
when is mother made this call to 9-1-1.
Moments earlier, his brother Rick had found him
nearly unconscious in the backyard.
Nearby, was a can of air freshener.
"I yanked him out like this
and his body was limp and he was like
he was like exhaling and his eyes didn't register
they were all glazed over
he would be looking up but was not seeing anything.
"Is he breathing now or not?"
"He's just moaning and is sorta breathing but it's really hard."
"He's turning all white and yellowish."
"OK I want you to see if you can feel or hear
any breathing or if the chest can rise."
"Can you hang on a second."
"Uh huh."
"I paged his dad who is a doctor.
I want to get him on the line."
"I was Christmas shopping and uh,
I can remember every detail."
Wade's mother was on the phone
and said 'Richard, come home now, Wade's dying.'
"Breath. He's just every once in awhile getting a breath in."
"Has he been sick or...."
"No he was in the jacuzzi,
breathing in that air freshener stuff
in towels."
"OH"
"We just came out and found him like that."
"Wade breath, Wade breath."
"Wade, Wade, Wade"
"He's not breathing!!"
"When your mid brain goes to sleep,
you can literally suffocate
without knowing it.
Those little spots we were talking about
coming from the sides.
That's your brain shutting down."
"11,12, and 13 and 14
15.... Can you feel a pulse?"
"Nothing."
"Wade, Wade!"
"I arrived shortly there after
we intubated him,
put a tube in his throat
and transported him to the hospital
and we worked on Wade for another
hour and a half and we prayed the whole time,
I did, I made God every promise
sometimes God says no. "
"We used to like always play pillow fight together and um
just wrestle, just do all that kind of stuff um
just what he smelled like,
those are things that you start to forget you know."
" I couldn't imagine my little brother dying in my own arms."
"Yeah, well, I hope you never have to."
"I'm sorry for everything you had to go through."
"Most kids don't realize how much
their parents love them.
And it never goes away.
I can see Wade in the faces in all you kids.
And it brings him back to life.
Just for a moment.
And it's worth that to me.
Everytime."
"It's wild, having a doctor
you know, come to us and tell us
that he had one of his sons just die,
just die, so young and off of something
so stupid."
"It touched me. Because
if I want to see 18, might as well
stop doing what I'm doing."
"I have no choice except change my mind
and change my ways."
Film star Rachel Leigh Cook when we return.
(music)
"Every 24 hours, 3,500 teenagers
will try drugs for the first time.
350 of them will become addicted.
Any one with a brain can become addicted to drugs.
Why would anyone with a brain take that risk?"
"My name is Matt, I am 18 years old.
I think I was high for 6 months straight
that was my record.
Like some people shoot pool,
I smoke weed and pop pills."
(music)
Matt and these other Seattle teens
are about to take a new kind of trip.
Guided by drug counselor Joyce Walker,
they'll find out happens when drug use goes from
a moment of fun to a life time of addiction.
"So tell me a little bit about you man."
"Goals, hobbies of yours?"
"No, not at this moment?"
"My name is Jenna and I'm 15 years old."
"I went to school high off of crystal and crank
throughout this year I would have actually
done good at school.
Yeah I do it just because it's something to do
sometimes.
It's a small town and there isn't much here.
But, I wouldn't want to be addicted."
"What happens when you start to crash?"
"Like I want it, like I'll do a lot, go through
a lot to get it."
"Like what?"
"Like steal."
"Ok, from who?"
"People I care about."
"I don't understand, if you are using
a hard core drug or a whatever drug,
why is not ok to do it.
If you make the money in an honest way
and you're a good citizen,
why is wrong to do that drug?"
"My name is Audrey and I am 17.
I started heroine like a couple months ago
and then like I got busted.
Police officer came and my principal and security
and went through my lunch box and found
all my paraphernalia.
And it was really hard to see my mom
going through my lunch box and finding all that stuff
especially when I pulled out my needle.
It would be different if I was to come
to somebody and be like you know
I want to stop, help me
but the thing is I was forced to do that
so how can I say I really want to stop?"
"Initially, it provided a good feeling.
It relaxed you maybe allowed you to concentrate.
But chances are, if you continue to use,
you will become dependent on it and it will
be your primary focus.
And the things that once were important
gettin' good grades,
keepin' relationships that are with
people that are important in your life,
they will begin to diminish."
Tonight, the teens will work with Street Links
a program and provides assistance to homeless youths.
The streets of Seattle are home to more than 800
young people a night.
Whether it's heroine, crack, ***, or alcohol
this is the last stop for many for whom
drugs have become the primary focus of their lives.
"My parents, they're getting on my case
real bad, telling me I couldn't have a place
to stay if I was gonna smoke.
I was just gonna be living on the streets
down at the Mission downtown."
"For 800 kids, we have
1 shelter with 15 beds.
What they are looking for usually
is a homeless kid, who is not on drugs or alcohol
that is not too depressed to create a problem
and not too angry to create a problem."
"So I guess a lot of kids don't get let in then huh?"
"yeah."
"What kind of drugs do you do?"
"That's none of your business."
"If I end up doing drugs again,
then that is what is meant to happen.
If I get clean and stay sober and become
real successful then that was meant to happen
cause it's just fate."
After helping to pass out hot coffee and soup,
Audrey attempts to talk to the young people
living on the street.
Many of them are strung out on drugs
and refuse to be seen on camera.
"My parents found out that I did heroine right.
And it's like, they don't understand that it is hard
that I want to keep doing it.
I could see like sacrificing having a place to stay
verses living on street just so I could do it
I mean that's just a reality, you know?"
"I'd rather not use, I would rather have a place
It's just not worth it you know?"
25 year old Josh, agrees to speak to the group.
"I used to have my own moving company
here in Seattle.
I had 2 trucks, ad in the yellow pages,
3 crews working for me.
But I just, slammin' heroine,
you know and uh,
it's not something that I would wish upon
anybody I just got out of jail
for instance like a day ago and
I spent 6 days in jail,
puking up blood and laying in my own vomit.
Having people *** at me for not
cleaning up my area, but I didn't have enough
energy to get off the damn bed you know,
to take my shoes to the door."
"So do get the high anymore or do you give up?"
"No, I am lucky if I get high once a month
or something, it's all about,
I don't have veins left,
I don't even put things in my veins
I have to put it right in my muscles
cause I don't have any veins
it's not just about getting high anymore
it's about keeping from getting sick."
(music)
"I couldn't imagine myself living like that
on the streets.
It's just like a nightmare come true I guess
you could say.
It's scares me."
"Oh my gosh. This doesn't scare me."
"Why would my dad just say that?"
"Why would your dad say what?"
"That he's going to kick me out if I
if I don't stop using if he's not serious?"
"Do you think you can just stop at this stage?"
"Ok that's where you got to the place where you probably
the drug use is paramount to anything else."
Despite the hopelessness and the rain,
Audrey seems unmoved.
"I wish I could stay out there longer,
the weather doesn't bother me
it really doesn't.
Cause I just like talking to these people
I don't know why."
"I want to be real blunt
I think that you're thinking very strongly
about being on the street.
Life on the street and life dealing drugs
and it goes hand in hand
and it's very dangerous
people get messed up all the time.
Females get ***
usually within 2-3 weeks of being on the street.
Guys can get *** too.
If you choose to go to the street,
what you're wearing right now
please don't.
You at minimum will be in a state of
hypothermia with what you're wearing right now. "
"I know, you get out here
and it's gonna start snowing and
you're gonna be like 'Man I wish I was at home.'
Just remember I said that."
Next, a visit with addictions youngest victims.
Every 60 seconds in America
a baby is born with a drug addiction.
They have no choice in the manner.
At the pediatric care center,
the teens see how getting high
can become more important than anything
or anyone in an addict's life.
"This is what the baby's look like
just as someone else is coming off of drugs
these babies feel the same things.
They feel the tremors
they feel the gut aches,
they feel the sweating.
This is little baby T,
when he was born, he weighed
4 pounds 5 ounces,
he now weighs 4 13 and this almost 3
weeks later.
They need a quiet, low stimulate environment
if we didn't support them,
there high risk for having a stroke or seizure
possible death."
"It started to upset me.
Something so small going through
so much torture when it didn't do anything
it was just born."
"You can't save a life just use once
so my baby isn't gonna be effected.
I have seen babies that mom's supposedly
only used once and the baby is totally traumatized."
"Will she get better?"
"I think it's kinda sad it's selfish
that the mother would do something like
that to her kid."
"She doesn't do it intentionally."
"Well I mean sometimes some people
do know they are pregnant."
"Well you know something, I think
anyone of you would know
it's easier to say you need to get off it
do it is another thing."
"She just keeps falling back asleep."
"This is a baby that has not seen her mother
since she's been here."
"Look like a little baby doll. Bye bye.
I was holding that baby,
I had to leave the room cause I didn't
want the camera on me when I was cryin'.
I'm sure if you held a little baby that was
addicted to heroine, you would cry too."
There are currently 4 million drug addicts
in the U.S.
Getting clean can be a life long struggle.
At the Ryther Child Treament Center
17 year old Meghan George is currently
facing this challenge.
"I was really lonely
and then I got some friends
and they were cool and they did drugs."
At 14, Megan started using methamphetamine
a drug so addictive
you can become hooked the first time
you use.
"They would pass it to me, and
I didn't want to look like a pansy you know
I'm cool, I can hang it."
"It made her a different person.
She was not my daughter anymore
she was mean and she was cruel."
"I emptied my bank account,
I quit my job,
my whole day consisted of sitting in a trailer
and just doing rails and smoking as much dope as I could.
It wasn't even fun anymore it just my chore."
"There would be nights that she didn't come home
and I would lay in bed all night long
so scared. I didn't know if she would be dead
in a gutter somewhere,
if she had been ***,
if she had been killed."
"There was a point where
I would have gone up to somebody
and just shot them,
just right in their head for it.
I'm not the kind of person
I am smart, I have goals
you know, I have a good family.
And I was just being a junkie."
The lowest point came when Meghan,
high on ***,
threatened her brother with a butcher knife.
Her mom was forced to call the police.
"It absolutely broke my heart to watch them
arrest my daughter in my house.
They put handcuffs on her
and they took her away
and I thought I was going to die."
"I mean I'm a strong person,
I'm tough, I am one bad person
you don't mess with Meghan
and it's hard cause when you look at yourself
I'm just I'm like a little girl."
"Do you ever sit back and think like
maybe if I just would have been a little bit more
not so careless about it, maybe I wouldn't be
here today and I'd be out on the streets and
I could be doing it and life would be better?"
"I'm gonna be something in life
I am not going just a bum living
under a bridge looking for my next high.
And I would like to say just stop now
and just say no but I am in treatment
because I can't say no.
I'm really scared.
I don't like feeling like a child.
I want to take care of everything and I can't.
I need help."
"All I wanted was to finally meet
someone that's my age
that's been through a lot
and like serious and wants to quit
and is really sorry about what she put
her mom and brother through
and stuff like that
cause it just goes to show that people
can come off of it and that they really do care."
Drug addiction is a disease that changes the brain.
"Hi Matthew, I'm Debbie."
"Hi."
"If your girlfriend wants to come along
she's more than welcome."
"Ok."
Before changing his mind about drugs,
Matt gets a chance to see using has
changed his brain.
A brain that has been getting high for 4 years.
"Well, we are going to inject you
a small amount of a radioactive material
which is actually is able to tell us
what the blood flow is to your brain."
A spec scan will give Matt
this unique opportunity to
appear inside his own skull.
"Ready?"
"I OD'd on weed laced with crack and shurn.
I don't know how many times I thought I was going to die
I must have 9 lives like a cat of something."
"He'll still ask me, he says
'Do you still love me, Mom?
that will never change.
Matt's giving up more on himself I think
than we ever even come close to."
"I prayed that he would make the right decisions.
And unfortunately that didn't happen."
Matt's family and his girlfriend
join him to hear the test results
from Dr.Hipskin.
"There is a picture of what we would call
a healthy brain here.
Where you see the blood is kinda going everywhere
it's real smooth.
You ready to look at your brain?
Should we take a look at it?"
"yeah"
"What you see is somewhat shriveled appearance
or raisin appearance of the surface of the brain
and you will see that sort of little
divots just everywhere and in various
areas actual holes and what that means
is that the blood flow to large areas of your brain
is what we would say is abnormal.
This is a pattern we would say is common
for someone who has had some
substance abuse.
And basically if you were to continue at the same rate
that you're doing
you would look and just imagine this
with twice as many holes and lose a lot of function."
"I didn't realize how serious and I knew it's been bad.
But, to see the pictures..."
"I think I need some help."
"As bad as it is,
I don't want to leave you here feeling
there isn't hope Ok?
I think there is something you can do about it
but you're going to have to take charge of it,
it's your brain,
it's the most important organ in your body
it's very sensitive
it does have the ability to heal
but you have to give it a chance to do that."
"He took this really hard."
"I'm addicted.
I don't get help by being told
get out of the house
and go live on the streets.
I don't wanna do that cause I seen
what they go through
just these past couple of days. "
I use this threat as something that I hoped
would help you.
And it did in a sense when you
saw the kids living on the street.
Saw what you could become
and I know you don't want to be that way."
"I don't want to go crazy or nothing
I don't want to lose my mind.
I'm gonna put this in a frame
hang it above my bed
and write a note that says
this is your brain on drugs."
(music)
The truth about drugs is
the majority of teenagers are not using them.
But for those who take the risk,
what seems like fun is actually a deceptive
chemical reaction that could be
stealing your ability to ever have fun again.
Truth is, you might not be the 1 in 10
who become addicted.
You might not be one of the half million
who ends up in the emergency room.
You might not be among the 10% who die,
but then again
you might.
(music)
"Melissa was a very happy go lucky child.
She will have big beautiful brown eyes
The day we got the phone call,
we were having dinner.
We did not believe it.
She did not do drugs.
And sure enough it was her.
And when I saw her laying on that table
she was hooked up to all kinds of machines
I saw her, I just prayed for her.
And they said the medication we are giving her
is not working
they just said, there is no hope.
So they just disconnected her.
I heard the little whoosh.
The Beep, she's gone."
(music)
If you need help
or would like to learn more about drugs
or drug abuse,
call 1-800-729-6686.
Or visit our website
at teenissues.com
To purchase a videotape of the truth about drugs,
call AIMS multimedia 1-877-256-2467.