Who needs DARE when you have this movie?! The performances were awe-inspiring. The message of the movie was one of the most poignant I have ever seen. It is shocking and very disturbing, but important much like Schindler's List was. You don't want to see this stuff, but you need to in order to understand the world and what can be done about what we don't like. I wondered about the validity of the hospital scene, thinking that I can't imagine it would be legal to send him to jail instead of at least treating the infection. I realize the point they were making, but it was already made by that point. What would have worked even better is if the movie were longer, showing how the son got involved in hard core drugs in the first place. I showed this movie to my kids, while having to explain what I believe were the gateway drugs before heroin. They got the message I hoped they would, it feels good but the temporary good feelings are not worth the cost. Also, addictive drugs are addictive drugs, whether or not one is less socially appropriate than another. This movie made that point beautifully. We, as a society, shouldn't treat drug addicts as criminals either. It is torture and it doesn't solve anything in the process.