[applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> announcer: each week, american history tvs "real america" brings you archival films that brings you context for today's public affairs issues. and hairion opioid when killed more than 33,000 americans in 2015, more than any year on record. the report calls this an opioid overdose epidemic. , andxt, subject, narcotics to do for law enforcement brussels. the film uses a question and answer format you described the dangers of narcotics and heroin

addiction. >> is a symbol of narcotic

addiction, poisoning the blood of our country. -- it occurs when the addict is deprived of his narcotic. he's experiencing withdrawal system. >> and if he can't get his narcotic? >> he lives from fixed to fix, and if he is lucky, he dies early, maybe from an overdose, maybe from an infected needle. he lives from fixed to fix. the addict must have his drug, and to get it, he must have money. that much money comes hard. >> and this girl? >> the same. always the same. vice feeds on vice. in the end, life has been a tortuous search on day today. >> but can't we help them?

>> we tried, but he is long past the point of no return. >> then we will stop narcotics from entering the country. .e will arrest the peddlers we will educate our young people. we will put a stop to this. >> yes, we will try. but if you want to defeat your enemy, you must first know him. ♪ >> this is a shooting gallery, a room where addicts come to inject their narcotics and must wait their turn to use the needle. >> then all these people are

addicts? >> some are, some aren't. all will be. for one, it may take five shots, for another, 50. but the narcotic will be master. >> what are these narcotics? >> lets take it from a scientific viewpoint. there are three general classifications of narcotics as defined by law. the opiates, the synthetic drugs, and the cocaine marijuana group. the opiates, grown and processed almost exclusively in foreign countries, include opium, morphine, and heroine. the second is a result of science awesome attempt to produce a nonaddictive narcotic. attempts have failed. all synthetic narcotics are addictive.

cocaine is derived from the peruvian coca plant. it is strongly addictive. marijuana is easily grown in many countries, including the united states. ae plant can be identified by soft tooth to lease which always has an odd number of fingers. the underside of the lease has a sticky feel to it. and floweringes of this plant that contains a narcotic. this is nonaddictive. >> what do you mean by nonaddictive? >> it is meant to that the user of marijuana, when deprived of the drug, will not experience the agonies of withdrawal. it is habituating, but its use can be discontinued. >> than what is its danger? >> it produces unpredictable emotional results, but its greatest danger lies in the fact that it is a stepping stone to the harder drugs such as morphine and heroin. 95% of narcotic addicts again

with the use of marijuana. asssified as dangerous drugs distinct from narcotics are the barbiturates, the sleeping pills known also as goofballs. proximately 400 varieties on market, and all are highly addictive. in most states, the position without a doctor's prescription is illegal. among the most common are yellow jackets and red devils. and dangerous drugs have legitimate medical uses. many are indispensable for painkilling and sleep reducing properties. in the hands of the addict, their use is perverted to secure an escape from reality. >> how about this man? what narcotic is he addicted to? rooml the people in this

are heroin users. carolyn is the strongest, most devastating opiate that exists. -- heroin is the strongest, most devastating opiate that exists. usually includes an eyedropper, a hypodermic needle, and a spoon with a bit of cotton at the bottom, and is known as an outfit. the heroine in powder form is placed in spoon, water is added, and the narcotic is made to dissolve. this process is called cooking. after it has been cooked, the heroine is drawn into the eyedropper through the wad of cotton to strain some of the impurities. it is then ready for injection directly into a vein. >> aren't they careful to sterilize? >> know, either because of ignorance or to save time. no precaution is taken. any communicable disease may be

directly transmitted into the disease -- into the bloodstream of another. for other narcotics, there are other methods of administration. for instance, black opium is usually smoked. , a dreamworldffs beckons. reality is left behind. but problems aren't solved. marijuana is also smoked. efer is it smoked differently. large quantities of air are in held simultaneously with the smoke. marijuana is the most prevalent narcotic among juveniles. escape isn of established. many of them try heroine. the step two narcotic addiction is short. the barbiturates are usually taken orally.

this group is classified as the dangerous drugs, and so classified so as to remind the user that they are addictive. physicalontinuous use, damage to the brain, kidneys, and liver can occur. but there is no drug as degrading and enslaving as heroin.

>> look at those marks. >> yes, these scars on arms and legs are one of the few clues of heroin addiction. they will shoot a vein until it collapses, and then move on to the next. most narcotics are smuggled into the country on ships or across borders. customs men are constantly on the lookout, but it can't all be intercepted. a great deal gets through.

[car horns] narcotics are a multimillion dollar business. costing $30heroine in europe is worth $300 upon united states border. as the narcotic is passed from the big dealers to the smaller dealers and finally to the retailers, it is diluted until finally, from the original ounce of heroin, anywhere from five to 10 ounces have been produced. g,is process is termed cuttin

and is usually done with milk sugar. ounces are cut and made up into gram packages and sold to retailers who recut the bundles and package the narcotics into capsules. these capsules containing a low percentage of heroin can bring from three dollars to five dollars a piece. decrease is not proportionately. the original ounce of heroin has a possible retail value of $3000. marijuana is both taken across and grown within the united states. the cigarettes are rolled in a double wrapping of brown paper,

though the more fragile white paper is sometimes used for the purpose of camouflage. because marijuana is not as profitable as heroin and because it is only habit-forming, pushers try to convert the youthful marijuana user to the addictive, expensive, profitable heroin. >> who are the addicts? how do they start? >> many start with marijuana and the pattern of escape is established. they then moved to the addictive drugs for bigger kicks, and soon they are hooked. five dollars, $10, $20 a day. narcotics breed a desperate race of men.

>> can this girl be an addict? -- this isher shirt her third shot, and possibly her last chance to escape addiction. no method is to degrading. degrading.

>> there may be 10,000 women and 30,000 men and this city who are drug addicts. each, perhaps, will initiate one new person to the use of narcotics. >> what are we doing about it? if we can't prevent narcotics from entering the country, we've got to crack down on every peddler. >> sure that's what we should do. we are often hindered by weak laws, apathetic judges and juries, and by narcotics forces. each case requires time, money, and men.

>> standby. ok, let's go. >> the law states that the possession of narcotics means that the suspect either has the drug on his person or that it was directly under his control at the time of arrest. man, both officers saw this

throw the suspected narcotic. suspects are searched on the spot, and all evidence gathered is placed in envelopes in the present of the arrested man, and data related to its seizure is recorded on the outside. there must always be at least two officers on an arrest so that there will be a corroborating witness.

these officers, however, cannot testify in court that the suspected substance is a narcotic. the confiscated material must be examined by a chemist who will later testify as to its findings. so we catch the pushers, but the problem doesn't end there. there is a still the addict who, without a will of his own, has a continual craving for narcotics. while under the influence of the drug, he acts almost human.

he becomes a desperate, tortured animal. >> but can these people be cured? >> physically, yes. mentally, there is no known cure. deprived of narcotics, they will undergo withdrawal symptoms for about six weeks. at the end of this period, his body will no longer need drugs, but the psychological need remains. elaborate precautions must be taken to prevent the passage of narcotics into prisons. and a fine mesh screens careful search of all articles intended for prisoners do much to encourage -- to discourage smuggling. clothing intended for narcotics prisoners is soaked in water to dissolve any narcotic the

articles might be saturated with. >> now that the suffering is over, doesn't he realize the hell that awaits him if he slips back? >> yes, he realizes it. and he will fight. but the addict is not fit for such a fight. narcotics have weakened his character, deteriorated his will. he may stay off the day, a month, a year, or more. but 99 out of 100 slipped back to one capsule of day, to capsules, four capsules, back to five dollars a day, $10, $20.

back to prostitution, armed robbery, jail. back to the desperate race of men. ♪ >> then there is no hope. >> the hope alive in prevention. our enforcement agencies must be enlarged. be warned of the compelling, habit-forming danger of marijuana and the addictiveness of the opiates. it is a social as well as a police problem.

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] announcer: you are watching american history tv. @clow us on twitter spanhistory for information on our schedule and to keep up with the latest history news. our c-span bus travels to local schools, colleges, and universities in communities across the country. recently, our bus stop in hampton, virginia, visiting students at hampton high school. here's a video students made about our visit. >> it's pretty hard to miss the c-span bus outside of hampton high school today. students are receiving an informational session about c-span's mission. the bus goes around the nation speaking to high school students, colleges and

universities, and political gatherings. let's take an inside look. [laughter] [indiscernible] the way they laid it out -- to studentsd out through email correspondents and through their 11th and 12th grade social studies classes. they applied and wrote a one paragraph statement about what this experience would mean to them. many responded in terms of their career interest, others in terms of their interest in media, and others just in response to their questions about how the recent campaign of 2016 occurred and how c-span was a part of that effort. to towant them to be able come on the bus and learn all there is to know. we were created by the cable industry as a public service to the community. our goal is educational and community outreach, and if they come on, they can learn about

c-span, ways they can use that in the classroom as a resource. we just want them to be involved, to be engaged, and to get their voices heard and to not be afraid about learning more about the government. >> we go across the nation with this bus, so we are excited to be an interactive experience for the kids to see what goes on behind the scenes. having theience opportunity to sit in the same seat as ben carson, bernie that i have learn another source of political research if i need any political and information on issues, that i can go to a nonpartisan site and it will tell me everything i need to know. >> approximately 150 students had the opportunity to tour the bus today. they learned information they can use while in the classroom

and at home. until next time, reporting, i'm xavier williams. announcer: on the road with the c-span bus. announcer: c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. on "american history tv," efforts to locate and return the remains of deceased american servicemembers and the aftermath of world war ii. titled minute event "1946, year zero, triumph and tragedy. " >> we spent today talking about the living.