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Uma sequência filmada dramatiza os problemas abordados no programa: a história de uma mãe trabalhadora viciada em barbitúricos, inicialmente prescritos por seu médico.
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00:01I think every American over the age of 12 must be conscious of the word narcotics.
00:07I think it's a scare word, as it should be.
00:10We know what heroin, morphine, and cocaine can do to the human body and the human personality.
00:15People who are hooked on these drugs are seldom hooked in the dark.
00:20But there's a strong possibility that at this moment in your medicine cabinet,
00:23you have a drug that can hook you just as completely,
00:26injure you just as terribly as heroin or morphine.
00:30I'm speaking of barbiturates, sleeping pills.
00:34Tonight I'm going to tell you the story of the thousands of Americans
00:37who suffer the agonies of barbiturate addiction.
00:40The tragedy of these people is that their plight is a terrible accident.
00:44They started out taking legitimate doses of a legitimate medicine.
00:48And suddenly there was a monkey on their backs.
01:10Confidential File, a report by Paul Coates, one of the nation's distinguished news reporters,
01:19brings you a factual report on America today, its people, and their lives.
01:36To buy heroin, you have to have a connection.
01:40No decent doctor would prescribe morphine in significant amounts
01:43without a thorough knowledge of the patient's history.
01:46But unfortunately, it's different with the barbiturates.
01:49They seem to be considered pretty harmless.
01:52And as a rule, they are.
01:54But the exceptions are awful exceptions.
01:58This story doesn't begin in a backroom dope den.
02:02And it doesn't begin with a crazy bunch of young thrill seekers.
02:06It begins in a perfectly respectable business office
02:09and it concerns a perfectly respectable woman
02:11who's quite a distance away from her carefree teens.
02:17Every person who lives is subject to stresses, pressures from outside.
02:21Some of us at some times, the pressures seem almost too much to bear.
02:25That's the way she feels right now,
02:27as if the entire world were concentrating its aggregate energy
02:30into harassing her, picking at her, sniping at her.
02:34She'd like to scream, throw a typewriter through the window.
02:37She'd like to cry.
02:39Of course, she can't throw a typewriter through the window.
02:42She can't cry.
02:43She needs the job.
02:44But there's another way to gain relief.
02:52She's been to a doctor and he's prescribed mild sedation
02:55to carry her over the rough points.
02:59And it works.
03:00Oh, not immediately, but once she's gotten these little pills inside her,
03:03she knows that help is on the way.
03:05Half an hour from now, she'll be as calm as a Supreme Court judge.
03:18The office ordeal is out of the way for today,
03:21but that doesn't mean her day or her problems are over.
03:31She comes home to another, even greater responsibility.
03:34And to her, responsibility means stress.
03:37Stress, and stress means panic.
03:41It's important that you realize this.
03:43The woman we're talking about isn't necessarily a weak woman
03:46or an irresponsible one.
03:47And the actual nature of the stresses shown here are arbitrary.
03:51Her office could have been a bridge club.
03:53The worrying she does about a child could have been about an overdue bill
03:56or an imagined insult.
03:59What I'm trying to say is that every human being has a danger point.
04:03This woman is reaching hers, and she knows it.
04:09When she screams, shut up, she's not talking just to the boy.
04:12She's talking to the entire world.
04:14She's screaming for relief.
04:16And she knows where to find it now.
04:19But the bottle's empty, empty much too soon.
04:22The doctor told her to be very careful
04:23to never, under any circumstances, increase the dosage.
04:27But she believes they work twice as well
04:29if you double the number you take.
04:31Of course, you run out twice as quickly,
04:33and the doctor might catch on to what you're doing.
04:35But she's got that figured out, too.
04:37You just go to two doctors,
04:39and then three,
04:39and then as many as you can wheedle a prescription out of.
04:45The doctor might yes...
04:50You just go to bed,
04:51My nights...
04:55You just go to bed.
04:59April 15,
04:59You just me to mother...
05:01Me.
05:05You just look.
05:06You look.
05:07You look.
05:08You look.
05:09You look.
05:09You're my friend.
05:10I when I say it.
05:11My child part to me and I say...
05:12She wants to make the druggist believe that she just happened to think of the prescription in her purse.
05:17One of the first and almost invariable signs of addiction is the victim's anxiety to keep his drug consumption a
05:23secret.
05:24The addict will manufacture complicated stories to justify his use of the pills.
05:28Most often the stories will involve very serious illnesses which require the drugs as analgesics.
05:36Because of her great dependency on the pills, she's afraid he won't sell them to her.
05:40Actually, there's no reason he shouldn't. Her prescription is perfectly legitimate.
05:44And the doctor who wrote it is probably a perfectly legitimate doctor.
05:48It's just that she's been seeing too many legitimate doctors.
06:01A few hours and a few pills later, she finally seems to be in the clear.
06:05The boy's in bed, the housework's done, and nothing now until morning.
06:09But she won't think about morning yet.
06:12Just sleep. It's all she wants.
06:15And there's only one way to get sleep.
06:38Now she's at ease, nothing to fear.
06:40Seven hours of surcease purchased with two little pellets of expanding darkness inside of her.
06:47This is the one time she really feels relaxed, just after she's taken the pills.
06:52It's the one time when if you asked her, she'd tell you sure she could stop taking the pills anytime
06:57she wanted to.
06:58She'll insist she isn't hooked.
07:00And if you aren't convinced, she'll probably hold out her hand to show you how steady it is.
07:27How could she be hooked?
07:28There she is going to sleep like a baby, and she's only had a couple of dozen pills today.
07:3611.15, sound asleep.
07:394.35, miserably awake.
07:50She can't figure out why she's so restless, and then suddenly it occurs to her.
07:54She must have forgotten to take her pills before she went to bed.
07:57She'll soon fix that.
08:09It happens every day. Check an emergency hospital log. Any emergency hospital.
08:14You take an overdose of barbiturates and you go to sleep.
08:17Then you wake up a few hours later and you forgot how much you've taken.
08:22She's so groggy she can hardly stand up, but she's convinced a sleeping pill will fix everything.
08:31Well, maybe two sleeping pills.
08:39Better make it three.
08:42Three more pills for three more hours of sleep.
08:48Never!
09:11Three more pills!
09:12The good news.
09:15The problem, granite!
09:21Eu vou te dizer uma coisa, você não vai jogar com barbiturates e não vai ficar com isso.
09:26Você endereia em um hospital, ou você endereia em um hospital, ou você endereia em um problema real ruim.
09:32Você endereia não poderá-se cuidar de sua casa ou de sua casa, não poderá-se cuidar de sua casa.
09:40Você toma pills para te ajudar, você toma um café para te ajudar a se juntar,
09:43e, depois de um tempo, não funciona realmente.
09:46Você não pode ir para dormir e você não pode se levantar.
09:49E você não tem aquela sensação de relaxamento agora.
09:52Você sabe agora que os pills estão te matando, mas você não sabe como se parar.
10:03Você faz isso difícil agora, agora, sobre as coisas que você se preocupa para o mais.
10:09Ficar suas responsabilidades foi difícil antes, agora é impossível.
10:15A gente tem pessoas amores e amores, amores, amores e amores.
10:25Mas agora, você não é uma coisa dessas coisas.
10:28Você é um barbiturante.
10:42Confidential File
10:43We'll be back in a moment
10:44First, here's a message from our sponsor
10:59May I have your name, please?
11:01Clinton H. Thenas
11:02And your age?
11:04I'm 58
11:05And your occupation, sir?
11:07I am director of the Institute of Medical Research
11:10of the Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena
11:13And how many years of experience have you had, Doctor?
11:16Over 30 years
11:18Tell me, Dr. Thenas, what are barbiturates?
11:22Barbiturates are synthetic materials
11:29which are derivatives of malonic acid and urea
11:34And what's been their principal use?
11:37To cause sleep and to relieve nervousness
11:41Are they addicting?
11:45Yes, they are addicting drugs
11:47And how do barbiturates differ from narcotics in their effect?
11:50In general, barbiturates are more sedative
11:56They have practically no stimulating action
11:59Whereas morphine, heroin, and the opium derivatives
12:03usually stimulate as well as depress
12:05Are the symptoms of withdrawal the same?
12:09They're nearly the same
12:13The muscle pains and the sweating
12:17The nausea and vomiting are not quite so severe as with the opium derivatives
12:23But there is more tendency to insanity
12:28During the withdrawal period with the barbiturates
12:31If barbiturates are so dangerous, why are they so readily obtainable, Doctor?
12:37Well, legally they are not so readily obtainable
12:40It requires a physician's prescription in this state
12:43In fact, a recent federal law now requires a prescription throughout the United States
12:50But isn't it easy for addicts to circumvent the law?
12:55I don't really know the answer to that
13:01I understand that those who wish barbiturates can get them
13:06But they have to pay good-sized prices for them
13:12What treatment is available to a barbiturate addict?
13:17There is good medical treatment
13:19It should be sanitarium treatment preferably
13:22And with a psychiatrist
13:24I suppose a strong-willed person tries to shake the habit by himself
13:29Is that possible without any help?
13:31It is possible and it has been done
13:33But it isn't a safe procedure
13:35For occasionally they will die
13:40When they stop taking the drug
13:42And quite a number of addicts will become insane
13:47I want to thank you very much, Dr. Finnis, for your cooperation tonight
13:50It's been a pleasure to be with you, sir
13:51Thank you
13:53In the film we showed you the case of an adult addict
13:56It doesn't always happen that way
13:57Sometimes it's worse
14:00May I have your name, please?
14:01Hazel Martis
14:02And your age?
14:0452
14:05And your occupation?
14:06Houseway
14:07I understand, Mrs. Martis, that you have personal knowledge
14:09Of problems involved with drug addiction
14:11Yes, I do
14:12I have a son who is in a mental hospital
14:14Due to the habitual use of Benzedrine
14:17How old is your son?
14:18He's 28 now
14:19And when did this Benzedrine addiction begin?
14:22I think at about the age of 16
14:25How did it begin?
14:27Well, he was a pianist
14:30And he used to play at parties, settlement houses and so on
14:35With a high school band
14:36And I do believe that that's when it started
14:39Well, did you try to get him any medical attention at that time?
14:42Oh, yes, I did
14:43I took him to a medical doctor
14:48And he talked to him
14:50But he told me that it was for a psychiatrist, really
14:53Did you take him to a psychiatrist?
14:54Uh-huh, I took him to a psychiatrist
14:56I got him to go several times
14:58And then he says, Mother, there's no use taking me there
15:00He says, I won't do it anymore
15:02And there's nothing he can do for me
15:04He says, I'm just going to quit taking that stuff
15:06But he didn't quit, did he?
15:07No, he didn't quit
15:08Uh-uh
15:09And later on he started chewing the batten in Benzedrine inhalers
15:13That he could buy at any drug store for a quarter
15:17And chew it like gum?
15:18And chew it just like gum, uh-huh
15:20How did he act when he had done that?
15:22Well, he'd get very wild acting
15:23Very peppy
15:25And very happy
15:26And did you keep trying to find medical help for him?
15:29Yes, I did
15:30Did you?
15:31It was the same thing, a variation of a psychiatrist
15:33Uh-huh
15:34And he didn't follow through with any of the psychiatrists?
15:37No, he didn't
15:38Uh-uh
15:39I think perhaps at the time, probably at the time I took him
15:43He may have been a little too far gone too
15:45That he just seemed like he had to have it when he was working
15:48Uh-huh
15:49And things kept getting worse then?
15:50Worse and worse
15:52And then you had him committed, did you, to a second hospital?
15:54Yes, uh-huh
15:55How long was he there?
15:57He was there ten months
15:59He had a series of shock treatments and they released him
16:01Uh-huh
16:02As being well
16:03And then what happened to him?
16:05And he was out two years
16:06He worked during the two years
16:09And was fine
16:12Until, uh, he evidently started taking them again
16:15Uh-huh
16:16Using the inhalers mostly
16:17Now he's back in the hospital?
16:19He's back in now, he's been in three years
16:21And do the doctors feel that he might be released soon?
16:23No
16:25He will not be released
16:27They've told you that definitely?
16:28Yes
16:29That's right
16:30He's had all the shock treatments that they can give him
16:33And the occupational therapy
16:34Everything they can do for him
16:37Uh-huh
16:37But, uh, he will always remain the same
16:39Well, thank you very much for appearing here with us tonight, Mrs. Martin
16:44The addict who hopes to overcome his habit has a tough fight
16:48The odds are not favorable
16:50But it's a fight that can be won
16:53May I have your name, please? Just your first name
16:55Margaret
16:56And your age?
16:57Forty-two
16:58Your occupation?
16:59I'm a housewife
17:00Do you have any children?
17:01I have three sons
17:03Margaret, how did you start taking barbiturates?
17:05I was an alcoholic and I had been off drink for about 90 days
17:09And I was going through a particularly nervous period
17:13And a well-meaning friend of mine gave me two little yellow capsules
17:18And she told me they would relax me if I took them
17:20Uh-huh
17:21And did the pills seem to help?
17:23Yes
17:24They, uh, they helped me a great deal
17:30I liked the way they made me feel
17:32How did these pills make you feel, Margaret?
17:34They made me feel high and I was floating
17:37And all my troubles and my problems seemed remote
17:41And I was, uh, seemed unattached
17:45And, uh
17:53When did you know that you were addicted?
17:56Well, uh, three or four years after I first started taking them
18:00I really knew that I couldn't do without them
18:02But I, I never would admit it
18:06What problems did barbiturates cause in your personal life?
18:10Well, my whole life became distorted
18:12Everything revolved around, uh, getting these pills and protecting my habit
18:19My friends would, uh, ask me why I was acting strangely
18:24And I was defiant and would insult them and tell them I wasn't taking a thing
18:29And it was obvious that I, that I wasn't myself
18:32And I, I just became a pathological liar
18:36And I suppose the pathological lying was always applied to your methods of obtaining the barbiturates
18:41Yes, I, uh, used many dishonest means to, uh, satisfy this craving
18:46I would, uh, go to a strange, uh, doctor that didn't know me
18:50And, uh, ask him, tell him I was a stranger in town just here for a very few days
18:57And I had forgotten my sleeping pills
19:00And, uh, I would ask him if he'd give me a prescription for six
19:04And, uh, I was never turned down
19:07And, of course, the six was easily made into a sixty
19:11So after seeing two or three doctors in one day
19:14I could build up quite a supply for myself
19:18And, uh, when I was a guest in people's homes
19:21The first thing I would do is excuse myself and go to the bathroom
19:25And I would raid their medicine chest
19:28I'd take everything that looked like it might have barbiturate in it
19:33And all this time while you were raiding the medicine cabinets of your friends
19:37And doing everything else to get sleeping pills
19:39You, uh, had no desire to drink
19:41This satisfied you?
19:43Yes, uh, completely
19:43I didn't have a drink at all
19:45How many pills did you take in, let's say, a week?
19:48I would, I'd take at least a hundred or a hundred and fifty a week
19:53You'd go on binges, wouldn't you?
19:55I'd, uh, start out, when I first started out, I'd go on binges
19:59They would last, uh, three or four days
20:01I'd go to bed and stay completely under the influence of barbiturates
20:07The binges became closer and closer together
20:10Till they almost merged into one big binge
20:14And I became terribly frightened
20:16What happened when you tried to break the habit?
20:20I, uh, would start perspiring from every pore of my body
20:25My leg muscles would cramp and I'd be very, very sick at my stomach
20:31And I'd be terrified
20:33I don't know what I'd be afraid of
20:35But I'd hear strange noises and, uh, shadows
20:39And even the movement of a window shade would throw me into a complete, uh, state of terror
20:46And when you're lying there, so frightened
20:51And you know there isn't a pill in the house to relieve your agony
20:54You, and, and you know you can't get out to get any
20:57The, the panic you feel, it, it's indescribable
21:01You, it's awful
21:02And you always fail to break the habit by yourself, didn't you?
21:05Yes, I always fail to break it by myself
21:09Did you get medical help?
21:11Yes, I, uh, there at the last, the last few years
21:15I'd go to, uh, a doctor and tell him my problem
21:19And he would put me in a sanitarium
21:21And, uh, keep me there from three to five days
21:24And withdraw me
21:25And, uh, they would feed me, uh, give me an intravenous feeding
21:30And build up my strength
21:32And taper the barbiturates off until I'd be completely off of them
21:35And how well did the medical withdrawal work?
21:38Physically, I would leave the sanitarium feeling pretty good
21:42And saying never again, I've, I've really had it
21:46But deep down, I knew that eventually there would be, there would come a day
21:52When I would be angry or depressed
21:55Or, there would be some excuse for my taking a pill again
21:59And then I'd be right back where I started
22:01And you were correct in that deep down feeling, weren't you?
22:03Yes, I was
22:05Did you find barbiturate addiction to be as tough as the fight against alcoholism for you?
22:10For me, it, it was much tougher
22:13Would you explain that to me?
22:15Well, barbiturates don't, uh, smell on your breath
22:18You can get by with it easier, or for a while
22:22And you, they're easier to conceal and to carry around with you
22:28And then you always have the wonderful excuse that you're using them as a medication
22:34Margaret, how did your addiction affect your family?
22:38I couldn't, uh, be a, a mother, I couldn't be a wife, I couldn't be a homemaker
22:44I was completely useless to myself and everyone around me
22:49My will was just completely gone
22:54Are you still taking the pills?
22:55No, I'm not taking them and I hope I never do
22:58How did you stop and how long ago did you stop?
23:01I finally went into a sanitarium where I received psychotherapy along with the physical treatment
23:07And it was there that I admitted and faced the problems squarely that I was a barbiturate addict
23:16And secondly, I knew that I wanted to quit more than I wanted anything else in the world
23:21Are you still taking treatment?
23:24Yes, I, I still see a psychiatrist twice a week
23:27Is the treatment very expensive?
23:29Well, to me it's very expensive, it costs me thirty dollars a week
23:34How does that compare with the cost of the pill habits you had?
23:37It's about the same
23:40Are you still bothered by a desire for barbiturates?
23:43I'm still afraid of them
23:45I, I don't think the obsession has completely left me
23:49For example, if I see a little red bead on the floor, immediately I'll start thinking of a second off,
23:56uh, capsule
23:57And as long as I have this fear, I, I know that I'm going to have to be constantly on
24:02guard
24:04Who or what do you think is at fault for your addiction to barbiturates?
24:08In the last analysis, I am at fault for my addiction
24:13However, I think that they're too easy to get
24:18I think that doctors give them out much too freely
24:21They don't find out the patient's background
24:25And, uh, I think that the laws are too lax
24:28I think they should be treated just like a narcotic
24:32Because barbiturates are just as dangerous as narcotics
24:37And it's much easier to overdose yourself with barbiturates
24:41Because after you've taken a few, you, you don't know how many you've taken
24:47Well, thank you very much, Margaret
24:49You're a remarkably brave woman, and I appreciate what you've said here tonight
24:52Thank you
24:58Barbiturates and the other drugs we've discussed tonight are valuable medicines
25:02The purpose of this report is not to discourage their use under proper medical supervision
25:07But when you use them, use them exactly as the doctor has instructed
25:12Don't increase the dosage just because you think you'd sleep twice as well
25:16And don't use them any longer than the doctor says is necessary
25:20Violent death and insanity are pretty ugly words
25:24But they're good words to remember
25:25Now, here's a final message from Confidential File's sponsor
25:52You have just witnessed another authentic report by Paul Coates
25:57Distinguished columnist and news reporter
25:59These factual reports are brought to you each week by this station
26:04Not necessarily reflect those of station or sponsor
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