Straight Up - Episode 1 with Lou Gossett, Jr. / Anti-Drug Educational Video

Department of Education. Straight Up: Episode 1. Academy award winning actor Lou Gossett, Jr. and young TV star Chad Allen (NBC's Our House) appear in this story about a boy named Ben who faces peer pressure to use alcohol and drugs. During Ben's struggle to resist drugs, he meets Cosmo, played by Lou. Producer: Department of Education. Creative Commons license: Public Domain

Drugs are chemicals that change the way a person's body works. You've probably heard that drugs are bad for you, but what does that mean and why are they bad?

Medicines Are Legal Drugs
If you've ever been sick and had to take medicine, you already know about one kind of drugs. Medicines are legal drugs, meaning doctors are allowed to prescribe them for patients, stores can sell them, and people are allowed to buy them. But it's not legal, or safe, for people to use these medicines any way they want or to buy them from people who are selling them illegally.

Cigarettes and Alcohol
Cigarettes and alcohol are two other kinds of legal drugs. (In the United States, adults 18 and over can buy cigarettes and those 21 and over can buy alcohol.) But smoking and excessive drinking are not healthy for adults and off limits for kids.

Illegal Drugs
When people talk about the "drug problem," they usually mean abusing legal drugs or using illegal drugs, such as marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, LSD, crystal meth and heroin. (Marijuana is generally an illegal drug, but some states allow doctors to prescribe it to adults for certain illnesses.

Why Are Illegal Drugs Dangerous?
Illegal drugs aren't good for anyone, but they are particularly bad for a kid or teen whose body is still growing. Illegal drugs can damage the brain, heart, and other important organs. Cocaine, for instance, can cause a heart attack — even in a kid or teen.

While using drugs, a person is also less able to do well in school, sports, and other activities. It's often harder to think clearly and make good decisions. People can do dumb or dangerous things that could hurt themselves — or other people — when they use drugs.

Why Do People Use Illegal Drugs?
Sometimes kids and teens try drugs to fit in with a group of friends. Or they might be curious or just bored. A person may use illegal drugs for many reasons, but often because they help the person escape from reality for a while. If a person is sad or upset, a drug can — temporarily — make the person feel better or forget about problems. But this escape lasts only until the drug wears off.

Drugs don't solve problems, of course. And using drugs often causes other problems on top of the problems the person had in the first place. A person who uses drugs can become dependent on them, or addicted. This means that the person's body becomes so accustomed to having this drug that he or she can't function well without it.

Once a person is addicted, it's very hard to stop taking drugs. Stopping can cause withdrawal symptoms, such as vomiting (throwing up), sweating, and tremors (shaking). These sick feelings continue until the person's body gets adjusted to being drug free again.

Can I Tell If Someone Is Using Drugs?
If someone is using drugs, you might notice changes in how the person looks or acts. Here are some of those signs, but it's important to remember that depression or another problem could be causing these changes. A person using drugs may:

•lose interest in school
•change friends (to hang out with kids who use drugs)
•become moody, negative, cranky, or worried all the time
•ask to be left alone a lot
•have trouble concentrating
•sleep a lot (maybe even in class)
•get in fights
•have red or puffy eyes
•lose or gain weight
•cough a lot
•have a runny nose all of the time
What Can I Do to Help?
If you think someone is using drugs, the best thing to do is to tell an adult that you trust. This could be a parent, other relative, teacher, coach, or school counselor. The person might need professional help to stop using drugs. A grown-up can help the person find the treatment he or she needs to stop using drugs. Another way kids can help kids is by choosing not to try or use drugs. It's a good way for friends to stick together.

Understanding drugs and why they are dangerous is another good step for a kid to take. Below, we've listed some words that may be new to you.

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[kpcher]

Fantastic video. I'm definately going to pass it on to other moms, teachers, etc. Infact, every one should pass this on to at least 1 person. Unlike some other educational videos I've seen, this one really does make you wanna keep watching. Kudos to the producers, actors, etc.

rosaryfilms, thanks for sharing!

[rosaryfilms]

@kpcher - you are very welcome -- thank you for your comments!

[raypeezy]

MY 5TH GRADE STUDENTS ARE WATCHING THIS RIGHT NOW!!!! I'm having the HARDEST time trying to get them to stop singing "Gimme that Headband". this film is almost as old as I am and it is AMAZING to see how attentive they are to it I mean they are REALLY paying attn. to it!

[rosaryfilms]

@raypeezy - thank you very much for watching! regards...

[articlepk]

good educational video.....

[rosaryfilms]

@articlepk thank you very much!

[luckywood]

Sorry guys, but I don't want to be involved in dangerous behaviour like drugs. You just go ahead while I let a total stranger lure me into a dark abandoned warehouse

[theperfectgyrl]

lmfao!!! 'Gimme that headband' is the best!

[acatliveshere]

i cant believe i was brainwashed by this in middle school. i also notice miss pot's head looks like a bud.

[raypeezy]

@raypeezy *your

[raypeezy]

@YourDogIsDeadHAHA You stated you gripe was at the film for various reasons, then your comments would be more duly directed at it,not an educator using it for educational purposes- as it is [also] intended as noted in its title. There can be a difference between intent and objective for use as well. If I ate the cigarette and enjoyed it then I did what I SAID I was going to do albeit not the [very specific] intended method for use. BTW I purposely used "enjoy" opposed to "smoke" for that reason.

[YourDogIsDeadHAHA]

@raypeezy Okay, I get it, but I feel compelled to clear something up--very basic: the movie is made to be shown to kids of about the age you stated, for a very specific purpose. So when you say you showed it to a bunch of kids, I think almost everyone would assume you showed it for its intended purpose. Like when you say you're going to enjoy a cigarette, I assume you're going to smoke it. But who knows, maybe you're going to eat it. Assumption is a natural instinct.

[raypeezy]

@YourDogIsDeadHAHA Fine, but that has NOTHING to do with me, or does your now stated rationale relate to your choice to attack,accuse, and single me out for "lying" based of YOUR erroneous assumption as to why I showed my (former) students this. How you abstracted my "intent" from my initial post is beyond me. Oh wells, I'm off to enjoy a Virginia Slim and a glass of wine... DAMN THAT FAILURE HEADBAND AND LOU GOSSETT JR!

[YourDogIsDeadHAHA]

@raypeezy No, I have no hostility toward teachers. I was saying that the effort put into making this movie is more or less wasted. Not completely, of course, but I remember seeing this movie in elementary school and my friends and I laughing at it. And yes, we did go around the school for days singing this song--and making fun of it. We weren't singing it because we had had some kind of epiphany. What amuses me is that people actually thought this was going to get through to someone.

[raypeezy]

@YourDogIsDeadHAHA BTW: the INTENT was to compare the quality of VHS to DVD for a technology timeline over the last 100 years- NOT drug prevention. This was the ONLY VHS we could find. Thank you applauding what you ASSumed were my "good intentions" unfortunately, you were erroneous in assumptions.

[raypeezy]

@raypeezy *care

[raypeezy]

@YourDogIsDeadHAHA  LOL! Thanks for affirming the obvious in your statement, " The truth is that some of your students will grow up do be drug users and some won't. It's out of your hands. YOU DONT SAY!? Hell, I thought I had headband powers to prevent EVERYONE from drug use. FML that I would car that 12 y/o make fun of me! OF COURSE they make fun of the vid- Its older than me!