Recently, a movie named Devastated was made.  It appeared in a small number of theaters but is freely available online.

Please give it a viewing.  It encapsulates the horrid state of drug use and addiction, and the tolerance for same, in these United States, to the detriment of everyone.  It also highlights the real destruction caused by casual use, even first-time use, by trusting and naïve individuals. 

It opens with a 911 call.  Five people are down, in one place.  At one time.  From one family and friends group.  The caller is hysterical at first but calms down with the help of the 911 operator.  But the five people are gone.  A sixth survives, and an infant is found unharmed, if one can call losing your family as an infant “unharmed.”  (One might also keep in mind the three men who died in Kansas City, Mo. of drug overdoses from a “friend” last February.)

The 911 caller dies eight months later, of an overdose. 

Throughout the movie, we are introduced to the victims of this scourge and their devastated families.  One cannot help but feel the pain they are feeling.  Sadly, all too many of us have felt this pain up close and personal. 

It is relevant that for all of the families interviewed, too many of the parents or other family members knew that their kids, relatives, or friends were “experimenting” or “just taking a Xanax,” or a Percocet, or a hydrocodone.  Or, or, or...

It appears that they could have stepped in, but they often didn’t.  They all claim to have “had the talk” with their kids, friends, family.  Yet it is stated in the interviews of law enforcement that upwards of 80% of these casualties knew exactly what they were buying.  So why did it happen to them?  This author doesn’t know the answer. 

The testimonies from drug-dealers themselves offer no answer, either.  One claims he had “rules,” as if that were some kind of saving grace for him.  It is not. 

The truth is simple.  We as a society have allowed ourselves to become numb to the death and destruction around us.  The alleged “adults in charge” are anything but in charge.  The steamroller rolls on, and we do not face the harsh reality that there is no such thing as a safe drug that can be acquired outside a direct physician-patient relationship. 

Sometimes the establishment medical community fails as well — too afraid to prescribe for those who really need it, and too weak to stand up for them because of fraudsters and malingerers, not to mention the possible loss of professional licenses, reputation, and lawsuits.  The truly needy turn to the streets and often die.  The recreational, or ignorant, or innocent users end up just as dead as the intentional ones. 

If one were to take anything away from this compelling movie, it would be that we, as a society, have no one but ourselves to blame.  We can try to blame open borders, but all too many of us have encouraged and championed letting our nation be invaded by those who wish us nothing but harm. 

We need to close the borders.  But even more than that, we need to stop making excuses and face the problem head on.  We need to have harsh penalties for those who willingly propagate this insanity. 

One terrorist with enough fentanyl, and access to the water supply, could kill the entire population of these United States in about a week.  Watch this movie and weep.  Then take action: talk to your families, your friends, your local law enforcement, and your legislators, and find out what they are doing to end this nightmare. 

And under no circumstances ignore the people around you and what they are doing to themselves, even if it was “the first time, they weren’t an addict.”  It takes only one time. 

Please watch this movie and be situationally aware.  Get some NARCAN and carry it with you everywhere.  Never condone even casual use of non-prescribed medications.  And hold your loved ones close.  Don’t be the 911 caller from the beginning of the movie.  Don’t be any of the parents, friends, family, and drug-dealers.  And as quaint and antiquated as it may sound, JUST SAY NO. 

As a final thought, please vote for Donald J. Trump for president next November.  The current administration could not possibly care less if your family members die.  Donald Trump will close the borders, deport the malevolent invaders, and provide the security we need to defeat the drug cartels and the senseless slaughter of our people. 

If we are to survive as a nation, the choice is clear.  If you didn’t think so before you see this film, you certainly will after.

Image via Picryl.