Synopsis
One Man’s journey into – and through - drug addiction reveals an innovative solution to the global drug problem.
As a teenage hippie in the repressive German society of the 1970s, Jost and his friends embraced the psychedelic dream with hashish and LSD and planned to change the world. After deserting from the army, and falling into the grip of speed-addiction, he led a group of rebellious disenfranchised youth into occupying an old apartment building. As that turned into a hotbed of anarchism, crime and chaos he abandoned his friends and escaped to Australia. This launched a ten year roller-coaster ride through the highs and lows, of booze, tranquillisers, uppers, downers, speed binges, alcoholism, psychosis and suicidal depression. He finally reached the point where his only options were to continue that path and die, or to change everything forever and live.
Faced with death, Jost gave up drugs and alcohol and became a counsellor for addicted street kids. After eight years of working within the existing system, he realised its limitations and feeling hopeless and lost he converted to a spiritual seeker. Determined to hide his past he spent the next decade turning his life around, through building physical, spiritual and emotional health and studying Traditional Chinese Medicine. What he discovered was a magical form of medicine that could make sense of the anarchic world of drug addiction, depression and psychosis. Drawing upon his past experiences, Jost developed a radical new non-judgmental method of helping people understand their relationship with drugs and how to move forward. The response, from the new generations of drug users has been overwhelming. Tracking him through his cutting edge work in Australia, i.e. his seminars and case studies, we see how his ground breaking ideas are changing peoples lives.
Out of the blue his past rises up to confront him, as he is unexpectedly invited to a reunion of the friends he abandoned 25 years ago in Germany. He now has to go back to where it all began and where it all went so wrong, finding out what happened to everyone else. But, in a reunion of ex-hippies, dealers, deserters, addicts, anarchists and political activists, anything could happen and the tension mounts. This is intensified by Jost’s decision to present his ‘Post Drug High’ seminar to the very people he introduced drugs to 25 years ago. This will be the ultimate test of his beliefs as many of them kept following the path of drugs and destruction, some did not survive and few believe there is another way.
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