Jails, Institutions, Or Death: the End Of the Drug Cycle

With violence one of the top issues facing the Clinton administration and a source of major concern for many Americans, this new documentary is particularly relevant today. With 80% of all crime estimated to be drug-related, breaking the drug cycle has to be an important component of any program aimed at reducing violence (more so, one suspects, than handgun restrictions). The late detective Saul Zlochower interviews several prison inmates concerning the drug cycle: going from user to addict to criminal (to get money for drugs), and ending up in jail, a clinic, or the morgue. Although for some kids (especially those kids whose parents toyed with drugs in the Sixties) the fatalism in the three choices may seem hard to believe, for most, the repeated use of hard drugs will definitely lead to one of those three doors. Introduced to alcohol and drugs as early as seven or eight years old, the interviewees here all seemed to be heavy addicts by the time they were in their teens. One 52-year-old Hispanic man claims to be scared of nothing, except "cocaine," which he believes has helped him spend over half of his life behind bars. All of them cite peer pressure as one of the major reasons for starting; none could predict where it would lead them--to dealing, stealing, and, in some cases, murder. And lest anyone should get the wrong idea about the joys of prison, the interviewees remind viewers that "guys get killed for flushing a toilet [in here]." You can't stop a speeding locomotive on a dime or a teenager with a mind made up, but hopefully some kids will listen to the stories offered here and think twice. Recommended. (R. Pitman)