American Addict

Synopsis

The United States comprises 5 percent of the world’s population but consumes 80 percent of its pharmaceutical narcotics. This startling statistic opens American Addict, documentarian Sasha Knezev’s in-depth examination of the corporatization of America’s drug dependency and its impact on both capitalism and public health. He supports his case with disturbing statistics and emotional first-person accounts from addicts, their families, noted doctors, scientific researchers, and police. Archival news footage recounts the frequent role of prescription narcotics in celebrity deaths—from Elvis Presley to Michael Jackson and Heath Ledger—to illustrate how this $64 billion industry has shaped social and political policies. A thorough indictment, American Addict leaves no facet of the pharmacological industry’s influence unexplored. Noting historical examples such as the government’s Bush-era revamping of the Medicaid program to benefit big business and its staggering contributions to political candidates, the film exposes the pharmaceutical industry’s sway on politics and education. This hard-to-forget film will leave you questioning medical practices and the place of “legal” drugs in our society.