ABC2: A Week on Drugs: guide

From July 26 ABC2 presents a week of programming on the topic of drugs: the costs, the consequences and their continuing allure.

Brendan Dahill, Head of Programming said “As the public broadcaster, ABC2’s responsibility is to engage in debate on the hard issues that affect us a nation, particularly those so relevant to our core audience. We’re ready to encourage people to have the national conversation and talk about the often uncomfortable truths around this subject. What does an honest conversation about drug use today look like? It’s time to find out.”

At the heart of the week is a live show, Australians On Drugs, produced in association with triple j’s Hack and hosted by Tom Tilley, tackling such questions as: Who takes what? Why? What’s their real impact? Why won’t we be more honest about them? And what can we do about them?

Overall it’s a line up that refuses to glamorise the business or taking of drugs, without talking down to our audience about the highs and lows. Many of these films make a point of talking directly to young people affected by their decisions. According to the National Drug Strategy Household Survey (2013), “about 8 million people aged 14 and over in Australia (42%) have ever used an illicit drug, and 2.9 million (15.0%) had used an illicit drug in the 12 months before the survey, increasing from 2.7 million (14.7%) in 2010.”

Of the core ABC2 audience (25- 34yrs) it was reported that “people aged 20–29 were most likely to have used an illicit drug in the previous 12 months (27% of all people in that age group)”

Louis Theroux: The City Addicted to Crystal Meth
8:30pm Sunday July 26
Central Valley, California, is home to some of the most impoverished rural towns in America, where crystal meth addiction is prolific. In Fresno, Louis finds a community ravaged by this cheap and highly addictive drug. As he infiltrates the town, he experiences the reality of meth abuse, as addicts who are high (or ‘tweaking’, as it is known) invite him into their homes to see them take hit after hit of their favourite drug. Louis becomes surrounded by the madness of daily addiction and the meth-addled confusion which is breaking this community apart. Louis witnesses the extraordinary challenges they face dealing with meth-addicted families – babies born already hooked, with mothers caring for them while attempting to kick their own habit too. Addiction is laid bare as Louis seeks out the stories and the people behind the drug.

Russell Brand: End the Drugs War
9:30pm Sunday July 26
Russell Brand’s 2012 BBC documentary, ‘From Addiction to Recovery’, concluded with him giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee. Drawing on his own experience of drug taking and recovery, he advocated treating addiction as a health issue rather than a criminal problem and underlined his own belief that abstinence is the best way to help addicts. Since then the Committee has reported its findings, concluding that the British drugs laws were failing and that it was a ‘now or never’ moment to reform them. But British Prime Minister, David Cameron didn’t agree, insisting that the drugs policy is working in Britain and that we should ‘stick at it’. In this personal journey, Russell Brand sets out to challenge that point of view. He wants to find out how other countries are tackling their problems of drug abuse and to explore how the framework of criminalisation implicit in the ‘war on drugs’ produces enormous harm in the treatment of addicts. Russell believes that ‘a shift’ is happening in the way that people view drug addiction. But to really change things he needs to persuade those who have power.

Alex James: The Cocaine Wars
8:40pm Monday July 27
In this documentary former cocaine addict Alex James, bassist of Blur, travels to Colombia to see firsthand what the cocaine industry is doing to the country and its people. With near-unrestricted access, he meets the farmers, the sellers and the enforcers. His journey is particularly poignant – at the height of his addiction Alex admits to blowing a million pounds on cocaine: a fact put into perspective when he discovers that in Colombia, a single gram sells for just £1.

Drug Runners: The Peruvian Connection
Australian Premiere
9:30pm Monday July 27
With unprecedented access to both smugglers and law enforcement agencies, this is a unique insight into the global war on drugs. Peru has recently overtaken Colombia to become the biggest cocaine producer and smuggler in the world. Every day, huge quantities of the drug are carried across international borders. The arrest of two British girls in early 2014 put the issue of female drugs mules firmly in the spotlight. This film interviews a ‘catcher’, a man who grooms girls to become mules; a ‘packer’, who is filmed preparing a case with kilos of cocaine; and former mules, who describe the experience of being groomed and smuggling. On the other side, we follow Inspector Cano, of the elite Scorpion anti-drug unit, as he seizes a cocaine-filled yacht bound for Southampton – and tracks down a Jamaican organisation, only to be thwarted by corrupt officials who warn off the smugglers.

Ben: Diary of a Heroin Addict
10:20pm Monday July 27
An exclusive, poignant and intimate film about the devastating effect of drug addiction… Ben Rogers was a bright school boy from a loving, middle class family. He played in the orchestra, loved cricket and enjoyed the annual family holiday. But his future promise was halted when he started taking drugs in his teens. Early drinking led on to cannabis, harder drugs and then the revelation to his family aged 21 that he was addicted to heroin. Over the next 13 years, Ben and his family battled with his addiction, going through detox, rehab and attempts at ‘cold turkey’, but his health gradually declined. Whilst attempting another detox aged 34, he died from a brain hemorrhage. But during the last two years of his life, Ben filmed an unflinching video diary showing his final desperate attempts to come off heroin. It’s a portrayal of his descent; intimate, raw at times difficult to watch. It is also a very intimate portrait of a family battling to save their son.

The Agony of Ecstasy
9pm Tuesday July 28
While some may refer to ecstasy as the love drug – its effects can be deeply disturbing. When ecstasy first hit mainstream Australia in the late 90s / early 2000s, a major UK survey showed that ecstasy users were 25 percent more likely to suffer a mental health disorder than the rest of the population. Despite such warnings, ecstasy is on the rise in Australia and is the most common illicit drug of choice after cannabis. (National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2013). According to the 2014 UN World Drug Report, Australians are the biggest users per capita in the world, with one in ten people over the age of 14 having tried it. Like many of her generation, 28-year-old uni student Lise experimented with ecstasy when she was younger. She had heard about its detrimental effects on serotonin in the brain, but like all her friends she was having too much fun to care. Then the lows between the highs began to last much longer and were darker than ever and her moods fluctuated wildly. After a period of crippling anxiety and agoraphobia, Lise eventually lost her grip on reality and was rushed to the psychiatric ward in hospital, where she was diagnosed with psychosis and then clinical depression. Lise is now back at university, worried her ecstasy use may not only have triggered a possible life-long struggle with mental illness, but also caused other long-term damage, particularly to her memory and capacity for learning. Determined to get some answers to help her understand the lasting impact of ecstasy, Lise tracks down other former and current users on the street, a detective, psychologists and scientists. She also decides to reveal her past drug use to her mum who, until now, had no idea Lise had taken so much ecstasy years before. Her test results are unexpected and disturbing, and Lise is forced to dig deeper into her past and confront the true reasons for her ecstasy use.

Australians on Drugs
World Premiere
9:30pm Tuesday July 28
In association with triple j’s Hack, Tom Tilley hosts a live studio discussion that will unleash a brutally honest conversation about our apparent reputation as one of the world’s biggest consumers per capita of illicit drugs. Delving into young Australians’ relationships with drugs, we’ll ask: Who takes what? Why? What’s their real impact? And what should we do about them? In this hour-long live studio show we dive deep into real life Aussie drug culture for a full 360 view of an issue that divides opinion across the country. Short personal stories from the program will premiere on ABC iview in the lead up to broadcast. triple j’s Hack will kick off the conversation on radio and online from Monday 27th July. Australians on Drugs is an ABC and Essential Media and Entertainment Production.

Four Corners: Ice Rush
8:30pm Wednesday July 29
His name is ‘Jake’. At 15 years old, he was an ice dealer, a user and a crystal meth cook. ‘Jake’ is the new face of crystal meth, or ice, in Australia. It’s the drug that’s ravaged our major cities. But now it’s destroying country towns one by one. Four Corners reporter Caro Meldrum-Hanna travels through the regions of two states, riding with police and users, to tell the shocking story of towns and people in the grip of ice. She pieces together a disturbing picture: major international drug cartels are working with locally based outlaw motorcycle gangs to push ice out of the cities. It’s a massive illicit corporate enterprise; sophisticated and highly organised. Their targets? Captive markets of bored teenagers in country towns, where there’s a desperate lack of treatment facilities and under resourced or non-existent police. Four Corners goes to one community of less than 4,000 people where up to one in 10 people are using ice. Meldrum-Hanna meets teenagers who began using in their early teens, sits with them as they smoke ice and with others as they inject, and discovers how bikie gangs use other children to ‘cook’ methamphetamine, destroying their health and leaving them with ruinous addiction. In short, the program tells the story of a generation that is being condemned to a life of drug abuse, crime and ultimately early death.

How Drugs Work: Cannabis (ep 1)
9:20pm Wednesday July 29
This three-part BBC series follows young people in their pursuit of pleasure; with compelling real life stories and stunning visual effects, we look at the darker side of three of the most commonly used recreational drugs; cannabis, ecstasy and cocaine. Taking the viewer on a journey inside the human body, the world’s leading scientists and doctors explain the surprising bio-chemical effects and unintended consequences of these popular drugs. With exclusive access to cutting edge scientific research, we confront the biggest myths and controversies surrounding these drugs to expose the truth behind their conflicting reputation. In this opening episode we meet people who enjoy using cannabis and who have become addicted, the programme reveals how cannabis takes over the innerworkings of the brain, creating mind-warping and heart-racing effects.

Cherry Healey: How to Get a Life
8:40pm Thursday July 30
Cherry Healey sets out to discover why the UK has become a nation of pill-poppers. In a world where we can buy legal drugs online in the time it takes to point and click, how informed are the choices we make, and how much do we rely on the pills we take? Whether we are chasing a legal high or trying to cure a physical problem, are we all addicted to something these days? She meets a range of young Brits, from thrill seekers to self-confessed addicts, to discover why we’re all in love with the idea of the quick fix. On th e way, will Cherry be able to resist having a go at laughing gas and smoking salvia, and can she kick a lifetime’s habit of slimming aids?

How Drugs Work: Ecstasy (ep 2)
9:40pm Thursday July 30
Using groundbreaking CGI this second episode of HOW DRUGS WORK, follows the effect of ecstasy on the human body. Over the past 30 years ecstasy has become one of the world’s most notorious drugs. No other illegal substance has had such an effect on fashion, music and how we party. This film follows two recreational ecstasy users over one night. Through graphic effects the viewer is taken on a journey deep inside the human body and the programme explains exactly how this powerful substance takes effect on the user’s vital organs.

Cocaine Cowboys
8:40pm Friday July 31
Miami, once a modest, coastal, melting-pot city, was transformed almost overnight into a glitzy metropolis when it became the main point of entry for cocaine into the USA. Chronicling the drug influx of the 70s and 80s – and the resulting gang wars and violence—Cocaine Cowboys is an eye-opening profile of the Miami underworld. Featuring candid interviews with key figures on both sides of the law, Cocaine Cowboys is a picture of a city overrun by drugs and warring gangs. Taking centre stage are ex-drug dealers/smugglers Jon Roberts and Mickey Munday, who lay out the structure behind the production, import and sale of cocaine, as well as providing their own reminiscences on the excessive heyday of Miami’s vice. When the drug business boomed – Miami banks almost ran out of space to store cash deposits – violence inevitably followed. An inside perspective is provided by Jorge ‘Rivi’ Alaya, a convicted former hitman for Griselda Blanco, the notoriously bloodthirsty Colombian ‘godmother’.

How Drugs Work: Cocaine (ep 3)
10:40pm Friday July 31
In the final part of How Drugs Work we take a closer look at cocaine, once a drug exclusively for the rich and famous, and now the most popular class A drug in Britain, with more than 1.2 million people taking it in the UK in 2009. The film follows three users on nights out on coke and uses cutting edge computer graphics to journey inside their bodies and brains to find out how the drug creates its highs and its lows.

Secrets of Mexico’s Drug Wars
8:30pm Saturday August 1
Take a closer look at the continuing success of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel in the wake of its leader’s arrest. The arrest of drug lord Joaquin ‘el Chapo’ Guzman in February 2014 was hailed as a victory in America’s war on drugs. But the truth behind the capture could be just another murky chapter in the scandal-ridden history of US involvement in Mexico’s drug wars. The documentary investigates the American authorities’ relationship with the biggest and most powerful criminal organisation in the world, the Sinaloa Cartel. This multibillion dollar international corporation has franchises in 58 countries. Despite its leader’s arrest, the cartel is still enjoying extraordinary success, and this programme examines allegations that the group has been given an easy ride in return for informing on other cartels. High-level informants, immunity deals, government sanctioned gun trafficking and a mysterious go-between charged with carrying messages between the Drugs Enforcement Administration and the cartel. A picture emerges of a dirty war being fought for control of Mexico’s drug-smuggling routes into America with little regard for the thousands of victims caught in the crossfire.