Teen Age Drug Abuse Does Not Grow in A Vacuum
Schools for troubled teens, drug rehabs, military teen boot camps all address addiction in the individual. But addiction does not grow in a vacuum. Countless documentaries and books explore the cultures of addiction and the environments that spawn it. One such documentary, Cottonland, has met with much acclaim. It studies dependency and it’s connection to the dependencies that societies develop collectively.
Relevant Tags:addiction, cottonland, dependency, drug rehabs, painkiller oxycontin, schools for troubled teens“In her new film, Ackerman reveals how easy it is for a social dependency on the state to carry over into a personal dependency on a potent little pill, the prescription painkiller OxyContin. With the collaboration of recovering addict Eddie Buchanan, Cottonland guides us through a culture of despair. We encounter a number of smart, self-aware men and women at different stages of dependency. Some have managed to shift to the detoxifying effects of methadone; others remain in thrall to the power of their addiction. All speak candidly and unflinchingly of the ritual of the fix.
Nance Ackerman’s analysis is as sharp as the end of a needle. Her film demystifies the world of the addict, while showing us the complex social nexus that contributes to such severe dependency.
How does an entire community fall into despair? What happens when the social order is weakened by forces beyond its control? Cottonland draws a coherent line between economic and social depression. In its pointed focus on the troubled community of Glace Bay, this fearless documentary also asks us to consider the deeper roots of widespread social problems.”
