- So, drugs.
- Drugs. - Yeah.
(soft music)
- [Man] Hello.
- Hi my name is Caleb Gustin, I'm an ER nurse.
- My name is Shaka Basin.
- I'm Tatiana.
- [Man] Can you guess what you're going to do today?
- Match the user to the drug?
- [Man] Yes.
- Oh my god.
- [Man] What's oh my god?
- I mean, I like know nothing about drugs.
(laughs)
- [Man] Will you tell us all
the drugs you've done?
- I mean it's spring time
so sometimes I take allergy medication.
- Is this a test to see if I'm a good nurse?
Prednisone, inflammation, can keep you up at night.
- I think that's a bong.
But I don't know for sure.
- Clonazepam.
- [Man] That's an anxiety medicine.
- Oh okay, okay.
- Lamotrigine and Levetiracetam.
- [Man] Those can be used as seizure medicines.
- Okay.
- Bupropion, sometimes it's used
to actually lower blood pressure.
People can actually use it for mental health reasons.
- Depo Testosterone,
I think it's a steroid.
- American Spirits,
classy the yellow box.
- This is for coffee,
or for warm beverage. (laughs)
- Syprine Trientine Hydrochloride.
I recognize hydrochloride.
- It has to be kept cold,
that's why it's on ice.
- [Man] You ready?
- Yes sir.
- [Man] Folks, want to head on out?
You nervous?
- Who's the first volunteer?
Great,
cool.
So, drugs.
- Drugs.
- Yeah.
- Can you pronounce that for me?
- Bupropion.
- Bupropion, all right.
And do you know what this is for?
- [Man] Wait, no, no.
- Do you know what this is for?
- [Man] Antidepressant.
- Antidepressant, okay.
- Is this something that you like
think about every day?
- First thing when I wake up.
- Can I like, smell your breath?
I don't think you're a smoker.
- Are there side effects that you know of?
- Yeah, death, and like cancer.
- Calms you out?
- Yeah, totally.
- I'm gonna go with the Clonazepam,
for you.
Do you keep it?
- [Man] Yeah.
- I'm gonna mess this up with you.
- Why do you think that I smoke cigarettes?
- Because you mentioned cancer
and if there's one connection
that's been made since the '90s,
it's the connection between lung cancer
and smoking cigarettes.
So that is my reasoning.
Yeah, there we go.
- All right.
(laughs)
- How are you? - Good.
- What do you do, who are you?
- For work I do construction.
- Talk to me about your social life.
- Um I like don't really do anything.
This is crazy
I've never done anything like this before.
- Do you get like social anxiety?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
- Bad.
- Bad social anxiety.
- How do you identify?
- Male.
- Well I identify as a very queer,
trans, beautiful individual.
Would you also identify within queer
or trans spectrum?
- Yes.
- How long you been taking this med?
- Four and a half years.
- Bupropion is for?
- [Man] Mood and depression.
- That, I think.
- Testosterone is used by trans people
who choose to transition,
so female to male.
- Thank you.
- A beautiful soul.
(laughs)
- What about your experience with drugs?
Has it been mostly positive?
Has it been mostly negative?
- It's been positive.
I've been taking them for 20 years.
- How often do you take them?
- Twice a day.
- Twice a day, oh.
- Are your joints good?
- Living life? - I study Zumba.
- Okay you're healthier than me, get it.
- Do you have like a dog?
- No.
- Okay.
- [Man] Why're you asking that?
- Seizures, some people have like dogs
to detect when a seizer is about to come on.
- Are you retired, do you work?
- I work as a research assistant
for my nephew who owns three
recreational marijuana stores.
- I think I'm gonna give you the bong.
- I'm gonna give you the seizure medicine.
- Lamotrigine and Levetiracetam.
I'm going to assume you need
to take seizure medicine pretty frequently, yeah.
This is why I decided to become an English major
instead of a doctor.
- Hi.
- Tell me about your day.
- I get up at six, take my medicine.
I got a lot of back pain from military.
- Okay, only in the morning?
Or do you also take it?
- At night too.
Sometimes during the middle of the day.
- We're thinking pain.
This might help your joints.
It might keep you out of pain.
- I'm gonna go with this.
It does have a pain reliving aspect to it.
It also does, I think lift mood.
- [Man] How you think you're doing so far?
- I don't know.
I just give the drugs,
I don't prescribe them.
- Are there any side affects?
- Yeah so,
as soon as the medication wears off
I can feel it in parts of my body.
Like some joint pain will come back.
- This was the arthritis one, prednisone.
I'm gonna give you this.
- Shit, this is the real shit.
- It is the real shit.
- Ew is it like poop related?
Is it like IBS land?
- Yeah, it is IBS land
in that general area.
- America knows nothing about IBS
but everyone has it - They don't at all.
And it's like,
can we just get over it.
People has sex and people shit.
I don't get why we have to hide those two things.
- I don't get it either but.
- You get this.
This is probably a very,
very costly drug.
So I hope that
you're doing all right.
- Thank you.
- We'll see.
I think I'm doing good.
I'm actually pretty proud
of myself right now.
- Can you tell me about the time
in your life that you decided you
need to be on this medication?
- Family member also had the condition.
- What happened to the family member?
- They died.
- So they didn't take this and then they died?
- Mhm.
- Oh, damn.
- Yeah I'm just gonna go with it.
- Why do you think I'm bipolar?
- If you're saying this medication
is the reason you're here today
that's indicative of like
this was some like really,
really, really low, lows.
- I think you get the tobacco.
I think I smelt a little bit.
I still love you.
- Uh, next.
- Calling your next victim eh?
(laughs)
- Saleem.
- What's your name?
- Saleem? - Saleem.
- Tell me about the first time in your life
that you took this.
- Made me better at my job.
- What was your job?
- Well back then I was doing
fashion and fitness modeling.
- I'm questioning all my choices right now.
- I have that affect on people.
- Okay well let's calm down.
(laughs)
- Are you like pretty fit?
Is your heart good?
- You know, I'm actually disabled.
I got my intestines removed few years ago.
- Oh shoot.
How much?
- All of them.
I'm like more cyborg than human.
- The ileostomy is like.
- You knew which ostomy it was
I'm so happy right now - I'm really great thank you.
(sighs)
- You don't know how tiring it gets.
- You're bupropion, for sure.
This stuff I hear is magic.
- I'm gonna give this to you.
- Okay.
Testosterone?
- Yeah.
Excellent.
- Great.
- Hi.
- Hey.
So I have a mental health med, two of them.
- This is the only thing that's left.
See I don't think it's a laxative
because it needs to be stored with ice.
- [Man] What are laxatives used for?
- Like to treat constipation and all of that.
- [Man] Does she look constipated?
- Oh god.
I am not answering that question.
(laughs)
- [Man] Ask her if she feels constipated.
(laughs more)
- Do you feel constipated? - No.
(laughs)
- Well this is the last one
so I have to give it to you.
- [Man] We'll let you make a switch.
- Can I just do the switcheroo now?
- [Man] Yeah.
- I'm gonna switch this with you.
I'll just give you this.
- Wait, ah whatever, okay.
(dramatic music)
- So I think I did pretty well.
- [Man] Will folks raise their hand
if they were picked correctly?
Go ahead and look.
- Oh my god.
(laughs)
Fuck me.
- Let's see one, two,
three, four,
oh look at that, that's not bad.
- [Man] We're going to go one by one
again real quick.
- Okay let's do this.
You're breath was so fresh.
- I make a lot of effort
to not smell like I smoke cigarettes,
like I don't want to put other people though that.
It's my choice.
- People choose to smoke
it's not my business.
- You know why I justify smoking?
I come from a family who has you know drug addictions
I've seen addiction my entire life.
I don't drink, I don't smoke weed.
I don't do any other drugs
so it's like I can you know
do meth like my family
or I can smoke cigarettes.
And I'll go with cigarettes.
- Yeah.
- Do you like me more or less
now that you know that I'm a smoker?
- Absolutely not.
I wish you wouldn't smoke
but that's just me being a nurse.
- Okay hi, yes, the win.
- Testosterone.
- Oh, okay, yeah.
Okay, why?
(laughs)
- I'm transgender.
I use it as hormone replacement therapy.
- Can I ask you,
what it was like when you first
decided to start taking this?
- Family wise it was great.
I worked at McDonald's
and I had worked with all my coworkers
for like five years and they were all horrible about it.
- Really? - Yeah.
- But your family was totally accepting?
- Yeah family was great, so I got a new job
and then everything was fine after that.
- What happens when you're not,
when you forget to take it?
- I go crazy I can't control my emotions.
And its crazy when I do this shot
like the next day, I feel fine again.
- That's awesome.
You see, we can have trans conversations
and not talk about genitals.
- Thank you.
- The seizure medication is yours?
- Yes.
- Epilepsy?
- Epilepsy.
Mine is caused by a bicycle accident.
But I landed right there
and they had to put staples in to reconstruct the skull
and it also caused memory loss
but I lost the memory of the whole year
prior to the accident.
- You lost your memory for a whole year?
- Yes.
If I don't take them
I could have a seizure and just die, you know?
So it's everyday, twice a day
for the rest of my life.
- Okay.
- All right.
- So I got you.
- Yeah you picked me.
(laughs)
- Are you high right now?
- Just a little bit.
- Okay.
- What would happen if you quit smoking today?
- I'd be sad.
(laughs)
Achy, you know?
It does make your day better.
All use is medical use
even if it like treats your depression.
(claps)
- Has it changed you personality wise
do you think?
- I don't think so.
Just the same as like when you're in pain
and you become grumpy
like without coffee you know?
That's like me
I'll be irritable just 'cause I'm in pain.
- I don't have a coffee addiction either.
- Why, you should start.
- I'll stick to hot chocolate.
(laughs)
- You got me right.
- Yeah I did.
- You should feel proud.
- Okay.
(laughs)
- I take this for Crohn's disease.
You're not supposed to be on it
for a very long time 'cause
it can cause calcium deficient
in your hips and your back.
So it's more of like a necessary evil.
- People hate this drug
it is so hard to live on this drug.
- It's hard.
- But remember everyone, everyone poops.
- Yes, everyone does, that's nature.
- I got you wrong twice.
- Yeah you thought I was bipolar.
Well this is Syprine.
- And that is to get minerals
out of your body.
- This is to excrete copper from my body.
The copper that I eat it just accumulates.
It accumulates in your joints and your brain
and your eyes and it's fatal unless treated.
I was diagnosed when I was nine
after my sister passed away from the disease.
- What is heavy in copper?
- Chocolate is pretty much number one.
No sea food or shellfish what so ever.
It's really high in copper.
- It always has to be stored on ice?
- It's always refrigerated.
- It's expensive.
- For a months supply of this
without insurance is 40,000 and some change.
But hopefully I will live a long life
and get old and cray and say whatever I want.
- Cheers to that.
- I got you wrong.
What did you take?
- It's Clonazepam.
It's for social anxiety, panic attacks.
- Oh yeah.
- And how many you take a day?
- I don't take them every day.
They kind of zombi-fie you.
So it makes it so I have no personality
and I'm super boring.
And I sleep a lot.
- I love sleep.
- Me too, but I don't like the zombie sleep.
I like normal people sleep.
- What do you take again?
- Bupropion.
- Oh the fun one.
So you're definitely not constipated.
- Yeah definitely not.
- Okay, yeah, so.
- Social anxiety?
- Yeah I have social anxiety, depression.
- Cool, do you get any counseling with it or just the meds?
- Yeah I go to therapy every week.
I definitely wasn't improving without the therapy,
it takes a mixture of both.
- Which is so true
'cause like it's so important
but then we forget to.
(dramatic music)
- [Man] How was that?
- I certainly learned a lot more about drugs.
I'm probably gonna go home
and forget about it but the great thing about the internet
is that I can always just re watch the video
and learn these things again.
- I think life is hard. (laughs)
There's so many stories behind people
and there's so many things that people need to help
them go through life, which can be really hard.
- [Man] Okay, thank you.
- Thank you.
(claps)
- [Man] Put your drugs back on the table.
- Put the drugs back.
- Do I walk?
- [Man] Yeah, you can walk off
in whichever direction you choose.
- Great, oh jeez.