Addiction is like any other consequence that goes untreated because it gets buried deep down in the argument of its own existence. Can one truly be addicted to something and if so is there a treatment that is ethical and can help sustain a successful recovery, or is the treatment just as bad as the addiction? Is the healing process just one big money making campaign from the pharmaceutical companies and head doctors that get paid big money to find solutions that may or may not exist? There are so many questions and so many answers but which ones make the most sense? Bill Moyers takes you on a walk through the avenues of addiction from the War On Drugs to sharing his own story involving his son who became an addict. A very intriguing program on the topic of drugs and society.

The program is split up into five segments: The Portrait of Addiction, The Hijacked Brain, Changing Lives, The Next Generation, and The Politics of Addiction. In each segment we look at addiction from the addicts point of view, the effects of drug use on the human brain, the consequences of addiction, the evolution of addiction and how it effects today’s youth, and whether or not the so called war on drugs is doing us any good from an economical stand point. There is even a bonus segment titled Rebuilding Lives in which you get an 18+ minute look at how hard the road to recovery is.

Personally I think there are too many politics when it comes to the attempted control of keeping us from becoming addicted, and not just to drugs. Kids would rather wet themselves then get up from a video game they’ve been addicted to and have been playing for three days straight without sleep (sometimes this includes adults as well), soft drink consumption is a hot button issue right now, designer shoes (and I’m not just talking about the ladies), to the simplest modes of addiction such as excessive consumption of alcohol to cigarettes. Deep down we know what harms us, how it harms us, why it harms us, but as Americans we have this misguided sense of freedom. We think we can do what we want, when we want, however we want and that there isn't a price to pay for it. Even on the smallest scale we can easily see there is a price for everything. It’s like the saying goes, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Sometimes I feel like to truly get over these harmful things we do to ourselves we need to just not be given a choice in the matter. I know, that’s not the American way, but the way we’ve been living proves were not always out for our own best interests and sometimes the consequences of that effects the ones we love and the ones who have no idea were messing up their lives well, ie; secod hand smoke, drunk driving accidents, drug motivated robberies and killings.

I really wish that this program had been titled Drug Addiction: Close To Home. I feel like the title is a bit misleading. The program for all intents and purposes is about drug addiction and each segment correlates with addiction to drugs. With that out of the way though you really do get a complete perspective from talking to the addicts themselves, talking to their families, looking into the science and facts about drugs and how they effect our bodies, and how living the lifestyle surrounding the drug culture is just as much an anchor stopping you from moving on but acting as a noose ending your life or the life you once knew one second at a time. I know a lot of people will start pointing the finger elsewhere and the potheads will automatically run to the statistic that pot has never harmed anyone, but that’s just lazy logic and if you don’t know the effects of drug use as seen through the decaying life of a friend or loved one it really is time to sit back and keep your mouth shut. I think this program is a real eye opener for both sides. The fact that this program aired 14 years ago and still remains relevant is also pretty noteworthy. Well worth checking out.