Advanced Cellulitis

The video clip on the right is an excerpt taken from the full-length video.  I was driving my truck at the same time I was taking video footage. (not recommended) I also was trying to tune in the radio. I came across a station playing a Pink Floyd song. It went so well with the atmosphere that I dubbed in some more of the song which is what you hear. The main feature is a young man named Corrie, age 23, who let me film his leg. He also gives a short testimony on the evils of drug addiction (full-length version only). Corrie's leg which you see here is really infected bad with cellulitis. He also has other abscesses on his buttocks. Corrie died a couple of years after this was taken of complications due to heroin use.

Please Note: Video in this clip is inferior quality than the full-length version of the video.

History of Heroin

This is a video clip of Shatina who was my choice for the narration of "the history of heroin" segment of the video. In the planning stages I thought that it would be to much for the audience to bear to see me over and over. I met Shatina when I was in rehab. She came in with her Church to do services (Bible Study Outreach Ministries). She had a great personality and presence in front of people. She went through this whole episode on the second take. My nephew Mike Forcier who knows more about the tech stuff helped me a lot, although you must remember we are amateurs. We had use of a studio in downtown Seattle, with a black backdrop and a makeshift teleprompter we pulled off a fairly good shoot with most of what you see done in the editing phase. This was shot sometime in 2002.

Heroin Overdose

I was able to obtain this footage during a courtesy ride-along with Seattle's Medic One. It was taken in Central Seattle behind Garfield School. It was late summer and school was not in session. A teacher who was getting ready for the coming school year called 911 on behalf of this man. He was revived and taken to Seattle's Harborview Medical Center. You can read more about the story around this episode by clicking: Making the Video

Recently I was contacted by MSNBC about using the overdose video clip. After many months they decided to use it although I was unable to provide the original raw footage. The clip was discovered by them by seeing it on YouTube where it has been viewed over 30,000 times.

Interview With a  (Ex) Heroin Housewife

I dedicate some of this footage to women in whom it is very hard on to live the life of an addict. This clip starts off with a series of still shots to the background of an excerpt from Tom Petty's "American Girl" before introducing possibly the video's most compelling story. Susan Martin shares her life in an interview I did in her home around 2002. I knew Susan when I was involved in the heroin lifestyle. Susan and I also attended the same junior high school for a short time many moons ago. The entire interview (approx. 10 minutes) is shown in the full version of the video. In her interview she tells of these despicable people she hung out with. Most people are unaware that she is talking about me. The crux of her sensational story is when her husband was arrested for bank robbery and how she had to deal with her large habit on her own. Susan's story was the most moving to the journalist, Katherine Shiffner, who wrote an article on the video for the Everett Herald newspaper the day the video was to premiere. News Article

There is Help and There is Hope!

This short clip is toward the end of the video where I introduce the destination of most heroin addicts which is, prison or death. (must see full version of video). The video quality once again is not as good here as in the original. I used some special effects to give the black & white negative look. I use the saying in the recovery community, "there is help and there is hope, the only requirement is the desire to stop using".

My Hospital Stay - Heroin Wounds

This particular video clip was taken by a friend of mine, Gordy Sater, who had the original footage for quite awhile before I got a hold of it. The footage of me was videotaped using an older camera so it is not "broadcast quality", however, it is the rarest footage I have. This is not in the video "Don't Marry the Dragon" I took Gordy's video and added some other things and came up with a short presentation on how bad black tar heroin affects the human body. You can look into more of this by going to: My Hospital Stay

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