HBO Presents – Addiction: The Film

Client: HBO

Format: Documentary
Broadcast: 2007

Duration: 9 minutes

At 10, Dylan’s biological father left his family. Now 15, Dylan has a drug problem. According to Nora Volkow of NIDA, adolescent brains are more susceptible to the lure of drugs than adult brains. Drugs took Dylan to dangerous places; his stepfather Scott says he became a “cutter,” and used a slingshot to shoot out windows in a fit of rage. Though treatment for adolescents yields positive results (17-year-old Ted benefited from sessions at the Phoenix Academy in Austin, TX), many families are unwilling to look outside the home for help. Says Dr. Michael Dennis, “Less than one in 10 adolescents who meet clinical criteria for abuse or dependence are showing up to treatment. What that means is we’re doing a bad job of identifying and getting kids who have problems into treatment.”

Director/Producer:
Kate Davis & David Heilbroner

Co-Producer:
Katherine Linton