TV series
Using visual effects and CGI the effects of drugs on the human body are examine, and the myths and controversies that surround them confronted.
Availability
Checked Jul 22, 2026
How Drugs Work premiered January 6, 2011. We don't have a confirmed streaming, rental or purchase option yet.
Using visual effects and CGI the effects of drugs on the human body are examine, and the myths and controversies that surround them confronted.
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Episode 1
With exclusive access to cutting edge scientific research, the myths and controversies that surround cannabis are confronted: whether it is addictive, if it destroys our memories and if it can even lead to psychosis.
Where to watch How Drugs Work
Episode 2
With access to cutting edge research at the University of Chicago, we find out how ecstasy creates empathy in the user and how this could one day lead to the drug being used as a life-saving prescription medicine for use in therapy.
Directed by Bruce Fletcher
Episode 3
Once a drug exclusively for the rich and famous, but now the most popular class A drug in Britain, with more than 1.2 million people taking it in the UK in 2009. For some cocaine is the ideal addition to a night out, but for others taking it became a life-changing event, including the young man that needed a pacemaker fitted at just 17 after cocaine gave him a heart attack and a patient undergoing surgery to repair a nose torn apart by too many lines of coke.
Directed by Tom Pearson
Episode information updated Jul 23, 2026
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BBC ThreeUnited Kingdom