Related Guides
Find Films
- Academic Video Online This link opens in a new window Academic Video Online delivers more than 67,000 titles spanning a range of subject areas including anthropology, business, counseling, film, health, history, music, and more. It includes documentaries, films, demonstrations, and other content types. Films in the Boston University Libraries catalog are licensed to Boston University for educational and research use only, for BU students, faculty, and staff.
- BU Libraries Search (BULS) This link opens in a new window BU Libraries Search provides a single place to search for a wide variety of academic material provided by the library. The material covered by the search includes books, journals, scores, video and audio recordings, and other physical items held by the library. The search also covers ebooks and ejournals owned by the library, as well as online material provided by the library from a variety of sources.
Browse Films
- Do No Harm: The Opioid Epidemic (Streaming, Academic Video Online) Today’s opioid addiction epidemic is the worst man-made public health epidemic in American history. Every year, we lose more people to opioid addiction deaths than were killed in the entire Vietnam War. Working closely with Dr. Andrew Kolodny and PROP (Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing), the new feature documentary Do No Harm: The Opioid Epidemic exposes how this catastrophic man-made public health crisis began.
- Reefer Madness 2 (streaming, Academic Video Online) This timely documentary on the compassionate use of marijuana shows how the 'war on drugs' criminalized even the palliative use of the substance. It incorporates footage from the original Reefer Madness, the film which has amused students on campuses for decades. As this film shows, marijuana reduces the pain and suffering associated with cancer, epilepsy, arthritis, glaucoma and AIDS.
- Understanding the Opioid Epidemic (streaming, Academic Video Online) Understanding the Opioid Epidemic traces the causes behind the unprecedented growth in the use of prescription opioids and the devastating impact these drugs are having in virtually every part of America.
- NOVA: Addiction (streaming, Academic Video Online) NOVA: Addiction. Hear firsthand from individuals struggling with addiction and follow the cutting-edge work of doctors and scientists as they investigate why addiction is not a moral failing, but a chronic, treatable medical condition. Easy access to drugs like heroin, fentanyl, and even prescription medications like OxyContin has fueled an epidemic of addiction - the deadliest in US history. Now, science is revealing how addiction affects the brain, and top experts are gathering evidence about how we should address our drug problem, from embracing evidence-based treatments, to rethinking public policies.
- Prescription For Addiction (streaming, Academic Video Online) December 10, 2007, - Prometa is touted as a new treatment for addictions, especially to meth, but some doctors say its claims are unverified, even though addicts and other doctors say it works. Scott Pelley reports.
- Substance abuse, sexuality, and suicide : the three canaries in the cage (streaming, Academic Video Online) he longevity statistics of Americans have declined by almost ten years. We now live on the average of 69 versus 78. Other, wealthy, developed countries continue in an upward trajectory in how long they live, far exceeding US citizens. Three issues, including Substance Abuse, Sexuality, and Suicide, may provide important insights into our nation's number one public health problem: a culture of addiction. Dr. Carnes walks us through the newly emerging understandings on the etiology of
- America's War on Drugs series (Academic Video Online) America's War on Drugs is an immersive trip through the last five decades of American drug policy and the unintended consequences for a global power-grab of the narcotics black market.
- Chasing Heroin (streaming, Academic Video Online) Facing a heroin epidemic, America is experimenting with radical new approaches to the drug problem.
- Warning, This Drug May Kill You (streaming, Films on Demand) Examines the growing problem in the United States of addiction resulting from the over-prescription of highly addictive opioids for both major and minor ailments. Presents the stories of individuals dealing with opioid addiction, either as a user or a concerned family member.
- Addiction: a Comprehensive View (streaming) Made up of several concise segments, this program deals with a wide range of drugs, addiction issues, and case studies. Viewers will enter a chaotic Dallas ER, where the majority of injuries are drug- and alcohol-related, and meet a desperate middle-aged woman who finally turns in her heroin-addicted daughter to police.
- Addiction (dvd) Several experts on drug and alcohol addiction, together with a group of accomplished filmmakers, have assembled this HBO documentary, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which is aimed at helping Americans understand addiction as a treatable brain disease.
- Addicted teens. Molly / MDMA / ecstasy (streaming, Academic Video Online) Ecstasy, also called "Molly," is a stimulant (man-made) club drug often abbreviated as MDMA that has hallucinogenic properties. MDMA works by providing a rush of Serotonin and Norepinephrine, two neurotransmitters that signal feelings of pleasure and happiness. Ecstasy is one of the most popular drugs among teens today. It has become an embracive "marketing" term for drug dealers selling "Ecstasy-type" drugs that may, contain very little or no MDMA at all.
- Addicted teens. Drug addiction (streaming, Academic Video Online) One bad decision could take a teen 20 years to get out of. Addicts tell their stories of abuse, recovery & how they turned their lives around. Drugs do not make you a bad person, but they can destroy you. No one starts taking drugs with a fundamental desire to be a failure or throw away the best years of their life.
- The Meth Epidemic: What Every Clinician Needs to Know (streaming, Academic Video Online) hether you’re an addiction professional, social worker, counselor, psychologist or nurse, this 3-hour live webcast will give you the critical information you need to:Understand the impact of co-occurring disorders with meth use on treatment outcomes.
- The Meth Epidemic (dvd) FRONTLINE, in association with The Oregonian, investigates the ongoing meth problem in America: the devastating impact on individuals, families, and communities, and the state-by-state battles to make pseudoephedrine a prescription drug, a strategy that's led to significant improvement in Oregon.
- Meth in the City (streaming, Academic Video Online) Methamphetamine (better known as “meth”) is a drug that has traditionally been associated with rural areas in the United States. However, recent law enforcement initiatives restricting the sales of Sudafed®—which contains pseudoephedrine, a common ingredient used to make methamphetamine—have put small meth labs out of business. This restriction has unintentionally created an opportunity for Mexican cartels to send meth into urban areas of the U.S.
- Meth's Deadly High (streaming, Academic Video Online) This documentary takes a look at the drug methamphetamine, which has become the drug of choice in the 1990s. It looks at the rise of meth and how its popularity stems from how easy it is to produce.
- Heroin's Promise (streaming, Academic Video Online) This documentary, produced by American Multimedia, is about heroin use in adolescents.
- The Anonymous People (streaming, Kanopy) THE ANONYMOUS PEOPLE is a feature documentary film about the 23.5 million Americans living in long-term recovery from alcohol and other drug addiction. Deeply entrenched social stigma and mass participation in widely successful anonymous 12-step groups have kept recovery voices silent and faces hidden for decades. The vacuum created by this silence has been filled by sensational mass media depictions of addiction that continue to perpetuate a lurid public fascination with the dysfunctional side of what is a preventable and treatable health condition.
- Stimulants : a hidden epidemic (streaming, Academic Video Online) We have seen an alarming rise in people using cocaine, methamphetamines and designer stimulants like "Bath Salts." The misuse of these chemicals, including a surge in the use of stimulants among people being treated for opioid use disorder, has largely gone unnoticed. And yes, people die every day from mis-using stimulants, whether it's sharing another person's prescription or using methamphetamine. Stimulants are everywhere, in energy drinks, prescription medications and illicit chemicals.
- Opioids, Inc. (streaming, Academic Video Online) The story of a drug company that pushed opioids by bribing doctors and committing insurance fraud, this is an investigation of how Insys Therapeutics profited from a fentanyl-based painkiller 50 times stronger than heroin.
- Grounded (streaming, Academic Video Online) Grounded: the high-flying story of Pittsburgh brothers Jimmy and Terry Dougherty, who became marijuana smugglers in the 1970's. Jimmy worked the ground crew and Terry was the pilot whose aviation skills helped expand the smuggling operation beyond their wildest dreams. Their adventures stretched from the farmers' fields of rural Florida and Alabama, to the dirt runways of Colombia and back again.
- Proyecto no. 945 (streaming, Academic Video Online) Drug Legalization. In theory it sounds plausible. But who would dare try? Uruguay's President Jose Mujica surprised the world in 2012 by announcing that Uruguay would become the first country in the world to legalize all aspects of marijuana production, distribution and consumption. This feature documentary examines the impact that Bill No. 945 had on society while de-constructing myths and beliefs people hold on tight to regarding drugs. Will Bill No. 945 become law?
- Bigger, Stronger, Faster (streaming, Kanopy) We reward speed, size and above all else, winning – at sport, at business, and at war. Metaphorically we are a culture on steroids. Is it any wonder that so many of our heroes are on performance enhancing drugs? From the producers of Bowling For Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11, comes a new film that unflinchingly explores America’s win-at-all-cost culture and what is behind some of the greatest icons of Hollywood and international athletics.
Featured Podcasts
- Dopey: On the Dark Comedy of Drug Addiction Dave and Chris had collectively been through dozens of rehabs, spent years in jail, and overdosed 500 million times. And they loved to laugh about it. That is until Chris tragically overdosed and died during the summer of 2018. This show was 80% debauchery and 20% recovery, now it's a little bit different.
- CBC Radio: On Drugs Each week, On Drugs looks through the lenses of history, pop culture and personal experience to understand how drugs have shaped our world. Because even if it's just caffeine or ibuprofen, there's a good chance you're on drugs right now.
- BBC: Hooked: The Unexpected Addicts Two women of substance, Melissa Rice and Jade Wye, debunk the stereotype of addicts and guide you through the highs and lows of addiction and recovery.
- A Drug Dealers Dreams Hosts Gee Money and Benny Blanco discuss the lives and transitions by individuals who have truly lived a drug dealers dreams. You will hear from guests that are too familiar with the consequences that come with that life decision. Listen, learn, and try to relate as these incredible stories are told from the people who survived living their dreams.
- Drug Dealers to Businessmen We focus on Ex-Drug dealers who have achieved massive success using the skills they learned in the streets and applied them to business.
- Planet Money: The Tuesday Podcast: A Former Crack Dealer On The Economics Of Drugs For today's podcast, we run some economic theory by Freeway Rick Ross, who was one of the biggest crack dealers in LA in the '80s and '90s. He went to prison in '96, and was released on parole in '09.
- The United States of Anxiety: The Drug War Christopher Johnson looks at the beginning of the War on Drugs in America, from it’s roots with the Southern Strategy, to the strange support for methadone treatment centers, to the so-called Rockefeller Drug Laws in New York.
- The Guardian: Mexico's War with the Drug Cartels Tom Phillips joins the search for some of the thousands of people who have gone missing or been murdered in the country’s bloody drug wars.
- The Dig: The Drug War in Mexico with Anabel Hernández Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, a leader of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, is on trial in New York. After twice making his way out of Mexican prisons, he was extradited to the United States. This is what counts as a major victory in the never-ending US war on drugs, which the US has in recent decades exported to Mexico.
- BBC Outlook: Undercover in a Colombian Drug Cartel Robert Mazur infiltrated drug lord Pablo Escobar's criminal organisation.
- American Rehab Reveal exposes how a treatment for drug addiction has turned tens of thousands of people into an unpaid, shadow workforce.
- Crackdown Crackdown is an award-winning podcast about drugs, drug policy and the drug war led by drug user activists and supported by research. Each episode tells the story of a community fighting for their lives. It’s also about solutions, justice for those we have lost, and saving lives.
- The True Origins of the War on Drugs One trillion dollars. That’s how much the United States has spent in the last 40 years on the war on drugs. Currently, more than 450,000 Americans are imprisoned for drug offenses—up from 40,000 in 1980. In the federal system alone, almost half of all inmates are drug offenders. Despite the government’s investment in this war, America remains the No. 1 country in the world for illicit drug use, and in 2015, overdose deaths reached an all-time high, claiming 50,000 lives. To
