This 20-minute documentary on the heroin epidemic in the United States was made by Concept Films in 1970 as part of an Encyclopedia Britannica informational film series. It contains footage of heroin users as well as interviews with individuals, often young adults, struggling with heroin addiction. The film appears to have been shot in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania vicinity. Viewers should be advised that the film contains graphic footage.

in 1970, when this film was produced, heroin addiction was on the rise in the United States. Among the epidemic’s causes that this documentary explores, the increased availability is perhaps the most salient cause of the heroin epidemic affecting Americans.. The international drug market was complex and booming and there was an increase in the amount of heroin available for American consumption. The documentary traces the market from its origins in Turkish poppy farms to Istanbul and then Beirut from where it is smuggled to France and then the United States, at an enormous profit to all those involved. One of the reasons for the immense profits is that the pure heroin could be greatly diluted before its distribution to users. It was often cut with other drugs, potentially leading to overdoses and deaths. At the time, treatment for heroin addiction was hard to come by. The video follows heroin users who try to quit through various means including community organizations, group houses, and methadone clinics.

(00:07) Title: Slavery in the 70s

(00:53) Images of an urban ghetto or rundown neighborhood

(01:40) Addicts heating up a bottle cap with a lighter for using heroin

(02:03) Young men use heroin in a house

(02:39) A map of the USA with the animated word “Scag” appearing — scag is slang for Heroin

(02:57) Newspaper clippings about the heroin epidemic

(04:00) A young man describes how he started using heroin and became addicted to it. Images of rough urban neighborhood with children walking through it.

(05:31) A man explains how he drives to Philly to buy heroin on street corners

(05:54) A woman walks through a run-down neighborhood, looks bombed out, part of the ghetto

(06:34) A man watches a b&w television set

(08:25) A man demonstrates how he shoots up heroin

(09:28) Addicts turned thieves steal items from an apartment complex through a fire escape

(10:01) A Turkish farmer grows poppy

(10:07) The sap is collected from the flower

(10:13) From Istanbul, opium is smuggled into Beirut

(10:34) From Lebanon, racketeers turn the morphine into pure heroin

(11:03) Map showing different smuggling routes

(11:15) New York City is the main distribution point

(11:33) The wholesaler breaks the kilo into different parts and mixes pure heroin with other substances that dilute its strength

(13:18) Overdoses are on the rise

(14:32) Gaudenzia House, a recovery center for people struggling with heroin addiction. Gaudenzia was founded in 1968 in Pennsylvania by a conscientious group of community members who wanted to help themselves and each other overcome the challenges of drug and alcohol use.

(17:24) A methadone clinic

(18:51) A city jail with addicts who have been arrested awaiting court or bail hearings.

(20:02) Credits: Filmed and edited by Laurence Salzmann, Art Ciocco. In Cooperation with: Guadenzia House, Community Committee on Drug Abuse. Written and Produced by Laurence Salzmann and Joe K. Phipps. Executive Producer – Joe K. Phipps.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com