Posted on May 9, 2020 View all news
Behavioral Health Services, a contractor for Los Angeles County Substance Abuse Prevention and Control, will present a free Zoom event during National Prevention Week on Thursday, May 14, at 5 PCT, 8 pm on the East Coast. Please join in with us.
The event will feature Heidi Anderson-Swan and her brother, K Anderson, who wrote the book, A Night in Jail. They were inspired by true events in the brother’s life as a homeless drug addict with schizophrenia. (He went to jail eighteen times.) Also adapted for the stage, the book illustrates cannabis-induced psychosis. (Heidi Swan’s testimony was published on this website about a year ago.)
The presentation will start with education on how marijuana has changed over the years, followed by an interview with the authors from a Los Angeles NBC station. The 18-minute movie, A Night in Jail,, will follow. The short film was a student-led project, with eight teenagers in on the production shot at the Redondo Beach Police Station and in a garage. A 16-year-old student directed the film!
After the film, but still on zoom, Mayor Bill Brand, of Redondo Beach, will moderate a panel discussion. The authors and an addiction psychiatrist who works for LA County Department of Mental Health and Homeless Outreach, Dr. Jeremy Martinez will speak as part of the panel. The film and discussion are particularly relevant at this time, and even before the coronavirus pandemic, because of the tremendous increase in homeless in the Los Angeles area. We hope Governor Gavin Newsom and Mayor Eric Garcetti pay attention.
Goals and Outreach
The ultimate goal of A Night In Jail is to have it read/watched/performed in schools. The approach is to use storytelling/drama therapy to educate youth. Dr. Christine L. Miller generously guided me in the making of an educational toolkit to go along with the story. It is a free download at https://anightinjail.com/index.php/product/educational-toolkit/
RSVP @ http://www.ANightInJail.com
A grant made the presentation possible for Behavioral Health Services. BHS hopes to repeat the program in other venues. Some of the presenters are available to travel around the country and screen the film in communities, with discussions open to the public.
The short novella, available on Amazon, received rave reviews.