Description
The Last Fix : an Addict’s Passage from Hell to Hope is a compelling journey with convicted drug offenders who opt for a tough but pioneering drug treatment court on the East End of Long Island rather than prison. Three stories tell of drug-ravaged addicts thrown a lifeline out of crime and jail into treatment and recovery. The film offers and intimate look at drug addiction, the failing “war on drugs,” and a therapeutic drug court that offers alternatives to incarceration, treatment over punishment and a break in the cycle of violence.
The filmmakers were given unprecedented access to a drug court in the Hamptons on the East End of Long Island, N.Y., an enclave better known for celebrity, wealth and glamour yet home to real people racked with an exploding drug problem.
Using verite and archival footage, The Last Fix shadows the drug court offenders and delves into the lives of three defendants in the program who talk about the seeds of their addiction, the spiraling habit that escalated from alcohol to marijuana to cocaine to crack to heroin, and the staggering costs that led them to crimes of prostitution and robbery to pay the street dealer.
Through shockingly revealing interviews we come to know Dave, a 54-year old master plumber and father who lost his family & business and plummeted into crime and a $3000 per week habit; Jacquie, a 45-year old wife and mother of three who deserted her family and nearly destroyed herself on crack cocaine; Matt, an 18-year old high school student with a promising art career took who started ‘using’ at 8-years of age, then took to the streets and a life of crime to feed his habit.
Their stories reveal nightmare battles with addiction that finally land them in jail facing time OR the chance to accept the rigors of the drug treatment court. After more than a year or two when they make it through “clean” the great payoff day of graduation dawns when criminal charges are dropped and their rehabilitation is solidly underfoot. The Last Fix captures the joyous victory celebrations at graduation when young Matt says, ” drug court is the real war on drugs.”
The documentary interviews others in the criminal justice community: judges, prison wardens, sheriffs, administrators, and politicians to dramatize the nation-wide reach of the drug courts. The heroin epidemic in Suffolk County, NY is boldly revealed by the county’s District Attorney and Sheriff and a 20-year old addict awaiting sentencing. It includes the psychotherapist Dr.Tian Dayton who pleads for treatment over prison. It confronts critics who insist that rehabilitation doesn’t work.
The Last Fix covers an annual conference of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) featuring the organization’s CEO West Huddleston; retired General Barry McCaffrey, former director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (our nation’s “Drug Czar”); Senator Claire McCaskill (Dem-MO), the first drug court professional to reach the halls of Congress. In addition, we were given special access to a press conference where actress Melanie Griffith, Golden Globe award-winning and Oscar-nominated actress, spoke about her addiction to drugs and alcohol and her commitment to work with drug court professionals about their success stories.
The Last Fix shines a spotlight on alternative sentencing, a seismic shift in the criminal justice system that embraces problem-solving drug courts. This documentary is intended to inform, to help upend the stereotypical notion that ‘tough on crime’ is the best tool in the box. I
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