Heroin: Losing Everything; Heroin: The New High School High

Heroin: The New High School High, a repackaged episode from ABC's Turning Point, examines an outbreak of heroin deaths among teens in Orlando. Hosted by Diane Sawyer, the program includes interviews with students, parents, a detox counselor (himself a former junkie), undercover police, and Steven Tyler, the lead singer of Aerosmith. Tyler, interviewed following Kurt Cobain's death in 1994, said that he too was one of those who thought "It [heroin addiction] cannot happen to me; but it could and it did"; a message which is underscored in the other interviews. The production values are slick and visually appealing, as one might expect from a commercially-financed program. However, given that the tape is a repackaged network show (already paid for by commercials), the price seems outrageous. Recommended for those without similar fare. Aud: J, H, P. (R. Reagan)Heroin: Losing Everything, on the other hand, is a very likely candidate for The Giggle Factor (that is, when an educational video, especially one which teaches about Something Bad, inadvertently sets kids to laughing). The tape itself is an earnest anti-drug program, which doesn't at all make light of drug use. However, this version of the tape (referred to in the catalog as "explicit language muted") is so filled with interviewees' bleeped obscenities that it becomes comical. (The other option, of course, is to buy the "explicit language unmuted" version which will really have classes of bored, tired-of-being-preached-to-about-drugs teens falling on the floor.) In addition, the dreamy-eyed look of love on addicts' faces when they talk about their drug of choice may well intrigue some viewers, while the Three Young Role Models (WASP, African-American and Hispanic) are wooden. On the production side, the camerawork seems like an amateurish effort to get the edgy MTV look. Not recommended. Aud: H, P. (R. Reagan)