Gate Way To Heroin With Mariana van Zeller
By: Judith Wallace
In a society where our television programming seems to focus on the glitz and glamor of celebrity lifestyle, reality T.V., etc., the real stories that affect our daily lives are often lost or fade away just as quickly as they are reported. On the contrary Current T.V. has placed its focus on real issues that are affecting people all over the country and worldwide. It has also aligned itself with curious and fearless reporters who are passionate about real issues and are willing to take risks, and get their hands dirty to bring these stories to their viewers. One such reporter is Mariana van Zeller who is a part of Current T.V.’s Award winning series Vanguard.
Premier Guide Media’s Judith Wallace recently caught up with Mariana to speak about her latest documentary series Gateway To Heroin. Mariana has documented and reported on many real life issues one of which earned her the 2010 Livingston Awards for Young Journalists. She believes that these issues are grossly under reported and is determined to do her part in raising awareness about these issues which she hopes will lead to finding solutions for these problem that in many cases have very severe consequences.
Tell us about your latest documentary series Gateway To Heroin.
Mariana van Zeller: Gateway to heroin is a documentary about a heroin epidemic that is happening now in Massachusetts. And it is called Gateway To Heroin through our investigation that it is being fueled in large parts by painkillers/prescription drugs that are being easily dispensed and prescribed all the way down in Florida. Florida has sort of become the Columbia of prescription drugs. People from all over the United States are going down to Florida to these pain clinics that easily dispense these drugs. Back in 2009 we started looking at prescription drugs and we did a documentary called The Oxycontin Express. We traveled to Florida and I went into one of these pain clinics with a secret camera and immediately they started asking me what kind of drugs did I want, how much Oxycontin did I want — what kind of pain killers, so its that easy. People are going down to Florida and coming back with loads of prescription drugs, and these are people from middle class families from suburban area of Massachusetts, and young kids who are getting addicted to pain killers. And when they can’t find it or afford it, because it is so expensive then they resort to Heroin. So there is this huge heroin epidemic right now in Massachusetts and its really scary.
This is a continuation to Oxycotten Express why did you feel the need to do a follow up? And do you believe that there was more information people needed to know about this situation?
Mariana van Zeller: Absolutely, after we aired The Oxycontin Express we started getting calls and emails from all around the country from mothers who lost their children, sisters who were trying to help their brothers survive you know always tragic horrifying stories. People really trying to reach out and want to see this huge prescription drugs problem get rectified. Prescription drugs kill more people nowadays than heroin, cocaine and ecstasy combined. It is crazy and not a lot of people know about this or are talking about this. One of the things that we kept on hearing again about what is fueling this prescription drug epidemic is that you think of prescription drug as a safe drug because it is prescribed by a doctor. And this is absolutely not true and not only that when these kids can’t get their hands on these drugs they are switching to something even more scarier and this is happening all over the country. And in Massachusetts especially it is have a tragic effect.
In a time where reality T.V. seems to have taken over our television, why do you believe that Vanguard is so success?
Mariana van Zeller: Today when you switch on the television you see a lot of commentary but not a lot of on the ground reporting, and that’s what Vanguard does. We go out in the field, get our hands dirty we get as close to the story as possible and we try to bring stories that we believe are important and can make a difference. Yes that’s what Vanguard is all about.
Why are you interested in reporting these thought provoking and real issues?
Mariana van Zeller: I have always been super interested in contextualizing the stories. I am always reading little short headliners in newspapers and I am always interested in digging a little deeper and finding out what’s behind this. And this whole investigation into prescription drug abuse in America actually started with a little headline about how a lot of people were traveling to Florida to get their prescription pain killers. It peaked my curiosity I started thinking what is this? What is happening down in Florida? So I got on an airplane and traveled there, and this is when I realized that this was a huge story that it was under reported, and that we need to do something about this and show what’s happening there. So its all about contextualizing and bringing to light stories we believe are important.
Who do you believe is the biggest culprits in this prescription drug epidemic, the large drug companies, the doctors who prescribe them or the lack of stricter legislation?
Mariana van Zeller: All of those combined, it’s the perfect storm. You have pharmaceutical companies that are making millions and millions of dollars from these prescription pain killers. You have doctors in Florida who are prescribing– no questions asked. People come in they ask what type of painkiller do you want, and give it to them . There is no examination, consultation etc. For instance we had an interview with a man who revealed that he obtained his pain killer from a Gynecologist. And then there is legislation, unfortunately not enough has been done to stop this illicit trade from happening. Governor Scott just recently finally signed a legislation but for many people, its too little too late. There are still loopholes in that legislation and the fact of the matter is that there are more people addicted now to prescription pain killers, and heroine as a contraband than ever before.
In reporting these stories or creating these documentaries, you sometimes find yourself in dangerous situations. Is there a sense of fear?
Mariana van Zeller: Yes I have definitely been in some scary situations. However I am lucky that I actually get to travel with my husband who works with me. He is my producer so he gets the job as my bodyguard as well.
What is the scariest moment that you have ever had during filming?
Mariana van Zeller: I had one in Nigeria where we were doing something about the oil conflict there. We wanted to get access to these militants that were fighting against the government, and we were approached by seven young men carrying big guns and wanted us to stop filming. So that was a scary moment. And I had my husband as bodyguard. Another scary situation was filming in this documentary in Florida. We were trying to film the entrance to one of these pain killer clinic, and we were basically chased in a car on the highway, and every time we would try to stop the car they would get out of their car and run towards us. That was extremely scary. You don’t expect this kind of thing to happen in United States. It just goes to show how much money there is, and how many interest they are in protecting this story about prescription pain killers and the illicit trade of prescription drugs in America.
Knowing that the information that you gathered for the documentary exposes large companies, were there any attempts to silence you or the release of information?
Mariana van Zeller: No, fortunately we’ve never being silenced. We are very lucky that we work for an independent T.V. company that allows us to do whatever subject we want to do. We have one mandate that is to bring back stories that we believe that are important, and can make a difference. So we are extremely lucky to work for a company like Current T.V.
What does the Livingston Awards for Young Journalists mean to you?
Mariana van Zeller: It was an enormous honor, not only the fact that I received this award but to be among some of these incredible names in journalism, people that I have looked up to my entire life. One of the journalists that was there at the awards ceremony, one of the judges, one of the people who picked my name to be the awarded was Christiane Amanpour. I have been a huge fan, and admired her my whole life– one of the reasons I want to become a journalist. So to have her there and know that she actually picked my name to win this award was an enormous honor. And then to also know that the story that we reported about was about rapes on Indian reservations, and how one in three women are raped on Indian reservations in their lifetime which is an incredible staggering and awful number. So to know that we were able to shine some light on this story was incredibly important for us.