CANDY

Candy (2006) Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish and Geoffrey Rush
Director Neil Armfield writer Luke Davies
A poet (Dan) who is a heroin addict falls in love with an art student (Candy). They both got trapped in the world of addiction hooked as much on one another as they are on Heroin. Their relationship faced different states of self-destruction Heaven, Earth and Hell. In Heaven sex and drugs are experienced by the young lovers. They sell things, steal, prostitute to seek money to buy drugs. In Earth they get married constantly struggling for money living in poor conditions because all the money that they make is going to drugs. Candy becomes a prostitute; Dan purchases the drugs and steals . Candy mistakenly becomes pregnant but, the baby is delivered still born around 23 weeks into the pregnancy. After all what the couple has been through They finally stop taking drugs with huge effort, going through painful withdraws symptoms. In Hell they experience the separation of their relationship and recovery. Dan and Candy choose to try methadone as a way to ease into a more normal life. Candy has a complete mental breakdown and was taken to a clinic to recover while Dan has some time to reflect about his life getting clean and holding a job as a dishwasher. When Candy returns to Dan he recognizes that their relationship is based on heroin, Dan for the love that he felt for Candy decides to end the relationship for good rather than risk dragging Candy back into addiction.

The movie talked about addiction and love. Two of the drugs that the movie talked about was Heroin and Methadone. In Chapter 4 we talked about these two drugs. Heroin is a derivative of morphine but without many of the side effects, it is a very addictive drug that can be injected, snorted, or smoked. It duplicates the action of endorphins so well that the nervous system slows or stops its production of neurotransmitters. So when the drug is stopped there is no protection against any kind of pain, causing the severe symptoms of withdrawals associated with these drugs. The withdrawal symptoms are so painful that it is very hard for the addict to quit. That is when Methadone is used, it is a derivative of opium but does not produce the euphoric "high" of heroin. So, it is used to control the withdrawal symptoms. Heroin abuse is associated with serious health conditions, including fatal overdose, spontaneous abortion, and particularly in users who inject the drug,infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. Chronic users may develop collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, and liver or kidney disease. Pulmonary complications, including various types of pneumonia, may result from the poor health of the abuser as well as from heroin’s depressing effects on respiration.