Fighting the dragon with luck

May 2009

Monash graduate Angelo Pricolo (BPharm 1987) aims to realign community and pharmacy attitudes to opiate replacement therapy (ORT) for treating drug addiction with his thought-provoking and emotionally resonating documentary Fighting the Dragon with Luck.

An estimated 40,000 Australians are currently on this type of ORT program, and the documentary tells the story of addiction through the eyes of six people in the inner Melbourne suburb of Brunswick. The stories share a common theme of hope that, despite the crippling realities of heroin addiction, a return to normal life is possible. The film takes its name from the tattoo of one of the central characters, a former Victorian heavyweight amateur boxing champion who is hoping soon to add a second tattoo that portrays his victory over the dragon.

Although widely recognised as the most effective treatment for heroin addiction, methadone is still subject to stigma that affects people’s ability to recognise the difference between it and addiction. This often leads to a situation where people on methadone feel they are more alienated than those using heroin. This was highlighted at a recent showing of the documentary, where the audience answered a series of questions before and after the screening.

Angelo explained that the data from this survey clearly showed that even people who work in the industry do not have a real understanding of addiction and the best treatment available.

“Our screening was effectively an educational session that changed attitudes on treatment and perceptions of drug addicted people,” he said. “The changes in responses after viewing the film were dramatic – we saw a definite shift towards a more positive attitude to treatment options.

“These attitudes also explain the poor involvement of pharmacies with ORT. Only one in three pharmacies in Victoria, and a very low percentage of doctors, are involved,” he added. “Doctors and pharmacists are part of the community and often share the same views and stereotypes.”

Producer and creator of the documentary, Angelo was awarded the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) Pharmacist of the Year in 2008 for his ‘passion, outspokenness and creativity, which triggered wide-scale changes to the way Australia is helping recovering drug users’. He has over 20 years’ experience working with methadone ORT and his current masters research at the faculty aims to address the low uptake of the ORT program within pharmacies and improve the existing program and its negative image.

Angelo has called on the government to further subsidise the cost of ORT, believing that programs with little or no charge have a higher success rate. This has been reinforced by the recent RMIT University study by Dr James Rowe entitled A raw deal: Impact on the health of consumers relative to the cost of pharmacotherapy. As well as further establishing the effectiveness of ORT programs, the report found ‘that the need to pay regular dispensing fees is an obstacle to entering, and remaining in, opioid maintenance treatment’.

As well as multiple screenings across the country, Angelo’s documentary received a special mention and screening at the International Drugs and Harm Reduction Film Festival (Barcelona 2008). In March it was also screened at both the National Drug Treatment Conference in London and at a UNICEF film festival in New Delhi. Angelo is looking forward to the film screening in the US at The College on Problems of Drug Dependence Annual Meeting in June. Featuring original music by Clare Bowditch and Max White, it is a powerfully simple film that connects the audience with each character and allows for a sympathetic understanding of their stories. It reminds viewers that users of heroin are members of our community who need our support and that, without that support, ORT can only go so far.

To learn more about the film, visit www.fightingthedragonwithluck.com.