If anyone is wondering about updates for those who were filmed, check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBhDnVY0f08I am a documentary lover and while I do not do drugs myself. Docs about different drugs have always fascinated me and is probably a good reason of why I will never try them. I think Black Tar is a great documentary for teens to watch. I live in Montana and meth has been a huge problem for us. Many highschoolers are now doing meth at parties instead of smoking pot or drinking. They need to be educated about all drugs so that they make educated decisions about what they are willing to "try" that could and most likely will lead to addiction and/or death.

This film should definitely be shown as a wake up call for impressionable young people. As these kids mention several times in this movie: "We watched this Sid & Nancy movie, and it lead to this and that" Really, it sometimes doesn't take more than that for a kid to experiment. "Let's be cool, and show a two fingered salute to this tedious world, let's pretend to be rock-stars!" Many young people look up to artists who romanticize the junkie-lifestyle. The problem is that artists usually have the money to buy drugs, places to live etc. Young minds doesn't think of all the gut wrenching horrors and desperation that come in the wake of a junkie-lifestyle (ask Sid how fun his last days were). If this film prevents young people becoming some idiotic Sid Vicious, Courtney Love wannabes, it has served a purpose.

Every kid should see this very depressing, dark, and scary, and well-made documentary to see how evil drugs really are. It should be a must in any health/safety high school class! I know the documentary was made quite some time ago and I would love to see an update on the young adults who were featured in it. I do know that Tracy, the woman with the long brown hair and glasses, sobered up and is doing well. She was on the Oprah Winfrey show about two years ago on a segment about a women's drug rehab center-she was one of the people who had made it through the program. Sadly though, some of those people featured on the HBO doc looked so near death you know they probably are dead by now.

The people in this documentary are the saddest, most pathetic group I've ever seen in my life. They shoot up, prostitute, then repeat. Unflinching, pretty hardcore. HBO makes really good documentaries, not trying to sugarcoat or alter society, they convey it to us with a style that is not added, but already there.