Cocaine Addiction In The Film Half Nelson By Dan Dunne

"Cocaine and crack are among the most addictive substances known to modern science, and they have already ruined the lives of millions of Americans" (Morganthau and Miller, 208). Cocaine and crack are both dangerous, harmful drugs. Though pleasurable effects can be obtained from these drugs, the use of crack and cocaine cannot be worth the actual consequences that are inflicted on mind and body. The bad effects of these drugs, by far outweigh the good. Because crack and cocaine are so closely related, it is important to have a firm understanding of both drugs.

Dr. Jeffery Rosecan, director of the Cocaine Abuse Treatment Program at Colombia-Presbyterian Medical Center often describes crack addicts, often called “crack-heads” as follows, “They first start to suffer personality changes especially paranoia, then their lives start to fall apart, along with their relationships and they move into a life of emotional extremes, crime, illness, and possibly death.”

He grew up in an environment surrounded by negative influences. “The constantly broken down elevators forced residents to climb claustrophobic, urine-scented stairways. And the drug game was everywhere, with a gun handle protruding from the top of every tenth teenager’s waistline”(Moore 27). His parental influence was weak because by the time Wes was eight years old, he was free from any adult supervision because his mother was at work and his relationship with his father was nonexistent. According to the text,”Mary laughed, watching him squirm. “Well, at least now you know how bad it feels and you will stay away from drinking,” she said” This shows that his mother is not a strong influence on Wes because he decided to skip school and throw a party with his friends. He found his mother weed stash and stole some for his friends. Later that day when his mother came home from work, she only laughed and did not give him any consequences. The text continues, “And he understood, faintly, how addictive that feeling could be, and how easy it would be to make some money off selling that feeling to people who needed it.” This was Wes’s first interaction with drug dealing. He believed his only role model growing up was his older brother Tony. Tony has always wanted the best for his younger brother. He taught Wes how to send a message whenever he was in trouble. “Rule number one: If someone disrespects

Cocaine had slowly risen into American Popular Culture, starting with an appeal to the elite class and ending with the Harrison Act of 1914. Employers encouraged the use of the coca leaf among their workers to increase productivity and decrease fatigue. Early physicians would prescribe cocaine to treat everything from morphine addiction to the common cold. Cocaine became a common ingredient in consumer goods. Marketers raved about the amazing effects of cocaine in their advertisements. Early historical figures, including Thomas Edison and Pope Leo XIII, endorsed French coca wine. It was difficult to escape the grasp of cocaine’s spreading popularity.

Addiction and recovery is difficult for everyone involved in the abusers life. Friends, family, and co-workers are affected by the struggle of the abuser. In “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, the story focuses on the struggle of addiction and recovery, and how his family and friends struggle to help him through his addiction. This is a serious issue in today’s society due to the psychology affect addiction has on everyone. There are many reasons a person starts to abuse drugs. The National Association for Public Health Policy states that “Drug abuse is interwoven with the problems of poverty, illiteracy, family disruption, racism, inequalities of opportunity and economic status, mental illness, and maldistribution of political power and authority” (275).

James Baldwin’s short story “Sonny’s Blues” is a timeless piece of literature. In this story, Baldwin captures the reality of drug abuse. He tackles the aspects that accompany it, including the consequences that follow and the impact it has on others. Alongside the underlying themes of this story are memorable characters and an impactive message. “Sonny’s Blues” leads a story that can easily take place in everyday life.

Heroin addiction can have positive and negative effects on people's relationship. When a family member becomes addicted to drug, it affects the whole family emotionally. The relationships starts to fall apart. In Sonny’s Blues, Baldwin demonstrates how relationships are continuously falling apart and building back again. The narrator hates the lifestyle of Sonny. He is angry, since Sonny hangs around with his drug addict friends. He does not like how Sonny “Carried himself, loose, and dreamlike” (Baldwin 138). The narrator feels as if his friends are having a bad influence on Sonny’s lifestyles. He does not approve the plan Soony have with music in the future. He sees it as “an excuse for the life he led” (138). He is worrying how music will

In the memoir, “Another Bullshit Night in Suck City” by Nick Flynn, drug use plays a huge role. Throughout the memoir, Flynn describes his father’s struggles with alcoholism and how it continually caused negative events in his life. Along with his father he also explains the drug use of his mother and friends. Flynn not only describes the consequences of other’s drug use, but also his own. During his memoir, Flynn continually gives drug use a negative connotation, through the actions and decisions of his characters.

For as long as drugs have been around, they have affected individuals and their families in devastating ways. Throughout Sonny’s Blues, the narrator reveals the trials and tribulations that Sonny has gone through to reach drug abuse and his coping with it. James Baldwin reveals the complexity of emotions involved in dealing with those coping with addiction as well as the tolls it takes on the abuser and the people around them.

In “Sonny’s Blues” Sonny is not portrayed as just another drug addict. The story takes the reader on a journey into his addiction and shows how it affects his life. Baldwin makes several attempts at trying to understand Sonny’s addiction through the supporting characters and Sonny himself. The passage had stated, in regards to his drug use, "It's not so much to play. It's to stand it, to be able to make it at all. On any level." He frowned and smiled:"In order to keep from shaking to pieces."(Baldwin 766) He wants the reader to be concerned for Sonny, while at the same time avoiding the idea of romanticizing drug use. He shows the downsides and pains of using drugs and how it causes family issues that would tear Sonny’s family apart. The

21 year old Nic Sheff with an extended history of drug use has finally been sober for a little over a year but that soon changes. In and out of rehab centers and 12 step programs Nic began experimenting with drugs at quite a young age beginning with alcohol at age 11 closely followed by Marijuana at age 12. As Nic becomes older the drugs become more lethal from heroin to crystal meth. One day in the city of San Francisco Nic runs into an old friend, Lauren. Lauren and Nic soon follow that meet with a drug dealer named Gack and pick up a gram of crystal meth. What follows is a chaotic swirl of events.

The author then stated, “Tony had already joint that statistic [dropping out of school in Baltimore City]; Mary wanted to keep Wes away from the same fate” (pg. 57). As a way to keep him away from the drug world, Mary moved the family to Dundee Village. It was during this time that Wes Moore had his first experience of the distribution of drugs. Tony watched after Wes and tried his best to warn him about the dangers in the drug world and told him to stay out of it; however, the appeal of money drew Wes in like a moth drawn to a flame. Whereas, the author, continued to grow up in a negative neighborhood and managed to stay away from drugs as best as he could in that setting.

During Hamilton’s rehab there were few yet life-changing choices that led him away from the “Golden Boy” life he once lived. “There was one night I was hanging at a tattoo parlor, and it wasn’t a bad place you know. The people weren’t bad they did some bad things. I had my first drink of alcohol that night and it was actually at a strip club, so I did a lot of first that night. They invited me back to there place, and the guy laid a line of cocaine. I asked what it was, obviously knowing what it was, but I asked how it made you feel and proceeded to try it” said by Hamilton during an interview with Larry King. “I liked it I’m not going to lie to you what I was missing from getting the adrenaline rush that I was missing from the baseball field after throwing a guy out at the plate and hearing the crowd erupt.” Further into the interview Hamilton talks of how he wasn’t addicted immediately after trying it, but says it was over the next few weeks where he tried it a few times is when he truly became addicted.

Pretty soon they’ll find themselves having to use crack just to feel “normal” again. This is the physical dependency stage. It occurs when the user has built up such a high tolerance from frequent usage, that their body basically forgets what is normal so they have to maintain a continuum of the drug to ward of the withdraw effects. As a result of usage, anxiety and depression can last for weeks. Attempts to stop using the drugs can fail simply because the resulting depression can be overwhelming, causing the addict to use more cocaine in an attempt to overcome his depression. This is the point in which you get the more stereotypical crack addict. They begin to steal from their family and friends, miss work/school, prostitute, and do just about anything they can to get the money to support their habit. They begin to short or try to get over on the person who is selling them drugs, which can result in violence. Some even become drug dealers themselves so that they can pay for the drugs that they use.

Cocaine usage is not as popular today as it was back in the 1900s but it continues to be abused as it was then. The drug has become addictive to those that used the drug intravenously, and free base (smoking crack). It has been said that individuals who try cocaine by inhaling, injecting, snorting would become addicted by using it for the first time. The individuals try to capture the pleasure or that high he/she first got when using the drug, the psychological effects of cocaine, addiction and dependence reports “only about 10 to 15% of those who initially try cocaine intranasally become abusers” (Gawin, 1991, p.1584).