Telly Awards- Silver Winner

Through vintage footage, animation, graphics, and scientific demonstrations, this series explores the various types of substance abuse and addiction and their impact on individuals, families, and society as a whole.

Titles include:

Effects of Weed on Your Body and Brain
Telly Awards- Bronze Winner
Using vintage footage, the program opens with a discussion of how peoples’ attitudes about marijuana have changed dramatically over the years, but the one thing is certain; marijuana changes the way the brain functions. Students will learn how the THC in marijuana enters the lungs, is absorbed into the bloodstream, and enters the brain almost immediately. The program discusses the effects of marijuana on attention, memory and learning and sites the evidence from scientific studies on the long-term, harmful changes in the brain. In addition, the program explores the use of medical marijuana and its legalization as a recreational drug in different states.

Heroin Abuse and Addiction
This program begins with a discussion about how our instincts drive us to avoid pain or remove pain from our lives. From this perspective, the video explains the difference between healthy and unhealthy approaches to getting rid of pain. Students will learn about prescription opioids and the potential risk of addiction that is identified by two key components, tolerance and withdrawal. The program then targets the short and long term effects of heroin use, and explains how it harms various body systems. Students will come to understand that heroin addiction goes beyond physical dependence, and that once addicted to heroin, a person’s primary goal in life is to find and ingest the drug.

How Addiction Enslaves Your Brain
In many surveys, the vast majority of teenagers report that when they do something their parents wouldn’t approve of, they’re just pursuing their freedom. This program begins the discussion of addiction and dependency from the point of view of surrendering your freedom. Students will learn that there are different types of addiction and that addiction is a persistent and compulsive dependence on an unhealthy behavior. In the program, students will come to understand the difference between psychological and physical dependence. Viewers will be introduced to a scientific theory called the cycle of addiction and learn that scientific research has shown that addiction is a disease that harms the brain and effects behavior.

Tobacco, Vaping and Nicotine
The program focuses on the short term and long-term, negative effects of smoking tobacco and that vaping is not a safe alternative to smoking. It explains the addictive power of nicotine, a substance found in tobacco. Students will see real, vivid scientific demonstrations of the damaging effect of smoking on the respiratory system and circulatory system. Animation and graphics help to present how smoking negatively affects every part of the human body  and discusses the health and financial costs to individuals and the society.

Underage Drinking: Dangers and Consequences
Telly Awards- Silver Winner
The program starts off with an explanation of what alcohol is, how it’s produced, and its role as a celebratory beverage in our society. Students will come to understand the reasons alcohol is illegal to consume for persons under the age of twenty-one. The video delves into the immediate effects of alcohol consumption on blood circulation and breathing. Viewers will learn alcohol sedates the central nervous system and how it impacts parts of the brain responsible for emotion and behavior. The program explores the negative effects of alcohol abuse and addiction on a  person, family and the community. In the end, students will come to understand that the decisions they make about alcohol will influence their health, grades, relationships, career and their freedom.