The Callie Crossley Show

I'm Cally Crossley This is the Cali Crossley Show. A tough kid from Charles Town deep into drug use both slings and sniffs Oxycontin when he's not hustling on the streets he's in and out of prison. That's until a life threatening fight lands him in the hospital where he decides to come clean and hit the college classroom. And not long after that. He slips for the feds and becomes an informant. It sounds like a movie which it is but it's also the real life story of Johnny. He has turned his life of drug addiction and dealing into the new movie oxymorons. His story is also the story of Charles Town and how the Oxycontin epidemic has torn the town into. This hour we talk to him about his life from the streets to the big screen. From there it's a tribute to Valentine's Day where a local made good is the confectionery classic The MECO sweetheart. Up next Love and Other Drugs. First the news. From NPR News in Washington I'm Lakshmi saying President Obama has more

than 3.7 trillion dollar budget sent to Congress today calls for tax hikes and spending cuts over the next decade. Mr. Obama says it will lead to more than a trillion dollars in deficit savings. Speaking at a Maryland middle school today the president said the plan focuses on investments including in education even as we cut out things that we can afford to do without. We have a responsibility to invest in those areas that will have the biggest impact in our future. And that's especially true when it comes to education. Some members of the GOP say the president's cost cutting measures need to be more dramatic though. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan says the president's plan will make the country's debt crisis worse. In Egypt the military junta is calling on workers to return to their jobs as labor unrest spread. NPR's Eric Westervelt reports workers in several unionized industries held sit ins strikes and street protests today.

Egyptian workers say they're fed up with low pay poor work conditions and inept supervisors. They felt emboldened to speak out since mass street protests prompted the military to step in and oust President Hosni Mubarak on Friday. There were strikes and protests today at state owned companies across Egypt including in the textile steel and media sectors as well as the Postal Service the National Railway and at several government ministries concerned about the ongoing economic turmoil Egyptian officials once again postponed the reopening of the stock exchange which has been closed since January 20 seventh. The ruling military council now in charge of the nation today asked citizens and labor union members to return to their jobs. In an announcement read on state television the military said strikes at this delicate time hurt the economy and the nation's security. Eric Westervelt NPR News Cairo. Security forces clashed with crowds of protestors in Iran Yemen and Bahrain today. In the latest show of popular discontent with authoritarian regimes. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports from behind that the demonstrations there took some by surprise small

scale demonstrations in the hurricane are not new but this day of rage was something different. Police rained down tear gas and rubber bullets on the majority Shiite demonstrators who are calling for political reform but not the ouster of the Sunni royal family. The demonstrations spread from Shiite villages north of the capital to the west. Demonstrations reached into the capital Manama itself but protesters were blocked from entering the central square they had hoped to gather in. In Iran witnesses said police used tear gas to disperse anti-government crowds. And in Yemen's capital Sana large crowds turned out for the fourth consecutive day of protests against their longtime leader. Peter Kenyon NPR News Bahrain. On Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 10 points to twelve thousand two hundred sixty three in trading at just over a billion shares. This is NPR News. The soccer sensation Rinaldo is calling it quits today the 34 year old striker announced he was retiring because his body could no longer meet the demands of the game.

Rinaldo won two World Cups with Brazil in his 18 year long career when all that was five a player of the year three times and recognises the top goal scorer in World Cup history. The so-called queen of the sky is getting a make over. But NPR's Paul Brown reports orders for the latest Boeing 747 jumbo jet are slim so far. How do you top the plane that transformed commercial aviation. The first jumbo jet the plane that stunned people with its profile and sheer size when Boeing first rolled it out in one thousand sixty eight Boeing vice president Elizabeth Lund offers some answers at the unveiling of the new 747 8 Intercontinental. This starts with the shape of our father set. For seven and from there everything else is new. That means new wings a modified profile that maintains the 747s characteristics second story bulge at the head of its fuselage and new interiors. Just two airlines have signed on with orders for fewer than 40 planes. But Boeing

hopes orders will improve as it pitches the new 747 against the still larger air bus A-380. Paul Brown NPR News. Well forget Cupid this Valentine's Day in Vermont state capital of Valentine's bandit rules a mysterious person or persons reportedly plastered paper red hearts all over downtown keeping with a tradition that started several years ago. The Dow still losing ground down eight points to 12000 265 but the Nasdaq's up 7 a 28 17. This is NPR News. Support for NPR comes from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation dedicated to the idea that all people deserve the chance to live healthy productive lives. At Gates Foundation dot org. Good afternoon I'm Kalee Crossley. This is the Calla Crossley Show when the Oxycontin drug trade exploded in the 1990s Charlestown was one of the casualties

according to a report by Partners in Health between 1999 and 2000 two drug related deaths among Charlestown residents. We're nearly 50 percent higher than the rest of the city. It's a reality that's portrayed in the new film oxymorons. My guest Johnny Hickey a Charlestown native who wrote directed and starred in The Independent film which is based on his life. I'm also joined by Christopher own a reporter for The Boston Phoenix. He recently published an in-depth story on Johnny Hickey trick tracking his life from the streets to the big screen. Welcome to you both. Thank you so much. Thanks Joe. This the film your story it's really kind of two stories I mean it's the story of this drug explosion going on in Charlestown in the 1990s late 1990s and early 2000s but it's also your story Johnnie he of going from being one of those people who traded Oxycontin and then changed your life and ended up working for the feds which sounds you know if you read about it somewhere it would sound like a movie and of course you've made

movies. Because that's what it sounds like. So I thought maybe we would start with just talking about Charles Town in the night. Late 1999 and early 2000. Give me a sense of what that was like Chris you wrote about it in your article and then I'm Johnny I want you to tell me about how you lived Chris. How did you set the scene for that in your space in your article. Yeah I mean so you know the first thing I would I would have to say is I this is a story I was working on one way or another for about five years since since soon after I moved to Boston and I'd first met Johnny. It was a 2006 you know he was writing the screenplay that's now known as oxymorons and I was unfamiliar you know beyond just the you know kind of anecdotal things you've heard. I didn't I had never really seen it up close and sure I'd been to Charles Town but as far as where he grew up in the buckle projects I'd never you know I mean we said we spend we spend a good amount of two weeks going you know into these buildings that are you know they're they're even more disgusting now than the completely uncapped.

And you know seeing a lot of just you know heroin addicts just really just walking around you see some really was really it was pretty horrifying. So you know from there you know Johnny brought me back in not just him but I can't tell you how many how many his friends and family members and and people from Charles Town against drugs and people who you know were really willing to you know paint this picture for me of what went down there and you know I wrote an article called The Tale of Two towns a couple of last year. And that was about how the shift in kind of the criminal demographic in Charlestown moved from you know bank robbers which were pretty you know portrayed of course and Ben Affleck's movie The Town to you know pharmacy band it's actually gotten you know guys who were holding up pharmacies they were I think the number of my store there 150 pharmacies robbed in Massachusetts in 2002 or 2001 alone 2002 nearly one hundred fifty And of course you know there's no

specific number of how many of those came from Charles Dow this and that. But that year there were 12 individuals or the year after there were 12 individuals from Charles Town including a Boston police officer arrested for you know in relation to these kind of robberies so you know if there was a Charlestown is a it's a very unique place only one square mile and it's got a lot of history some nefarious and. It was really it was really interesting. You know over this whole process to kind of get that image painted for me. Now Janet before you describe for me what it was like for you living there during that time. Let me tell our listeners what Oxycontin is. Case you don't know what it is. It is a it is used to relieve moderate and severe pain and it's in a class of medications called opiates narcotic analgesics. And it works by changing the way the brain and nervous system respond to pain it's quite powerful. These are extended release long acting tablets and according to this is from

the U.S. National Library of Medicine should only be used to treat people who need regularly scheduled doses of pain medication to treat continuous pain for an extended period of time. But I think from this description we can see why this would be attractive to people who wanted to. Abuse this drug so tell us. Johnny he in. The late 90s early 2000 you're living there. What was it like. You know there it was you grow up in Charlestown First off the you know people to drugs and stuff. But in you know crimes it's a big thing they give you go to family a dentist going to be a dentist in Charlestown. He grew up in a family criminal is going to be a criminal and it's sad. People get more recognition for coming home from Walpole or one of the state prisons or federal prisons and stabbing three people and robbing a bank and someone coming home an Ivy League degree so you know that's the lifestyle the spoon fed and you're brought into and we always look down not down upon but I did was that people did heroin. You know this was a small group of people and it was

all the people from our lesson we like you know gross we stay away from that and then you know people get perks and all the pills and stuff you know and you know came in I guess yeah it was a lot of you know Oxycontin is basically Percocet and I depend on the milligrams you know just a bunch of perks and one pill. Time released you know this pill comes out and some genius of course figures out that the times when it's very easy to take off. So now you get the equivalent of like a bag of heroin in a pill. Well you know but you're not doing heroin because you're doing a pill. That's the way people were thinking of it that's why it's called like hillbilly heroin and stuff like that so you get a lot of young kids hockey play is really good kids. On top of you know the street criminal type people doing this drug and then the amount of money that you spend on the drug because you know in the street value of pills it's a dollar a milligram. So like a Percocet five milligram is $5. Two milligram clonopin are Xanax is $2 it's a dollar a milligram.

So an Oxycontin 80 is $80 you know and of course to do deals with it go down a $65 a pill $50 a pill. But that's way more expensive than buying two bags of heroin on the street that you're getting at the same exact time from so the conversion from Oxycontin heroin went really fast because you know you had all these people robbing pharmacies and all the oxy out there and then they're off the street they're indicted so it you know all these DEA task force and stuff did was they come in they clean up all the guys robbing the pharmacies and distribute the oxycontin but they leave behind the users that have nowhere else to go but with the heroin that's overflowing the streets of Boston in America so. You know cycle going there. Yeah it happened so fast it wasn't like you know there's a good strong period time like all the sudden you know oxy came out and for years and then all of a sudden it was like it was a boum boum boum. You know it was just like before you knew it. Everybody I knew like from when a 14 year old girls to their parents doctors everybody was on this drug. Like you know you

mean and they disguised it in Mastic because it was a pill it was a pharmaceutical drug and not considered a street drug and it is such a street drug. I want to give our listeners a chance to hear a clip from your movie call oxymorons which looks at this time period and the kind of epidemic of OxyContin abuse during that time period. And in this scene Danny played by you Johnny Hickey and his brother played by David Burns have stolen Oxycontin from pharmacies and here they're telling their mother played by Patty Ross how much money the pills bring in 2001. Those rocks. I'm going to ask you but I know I don't like you. You know what I want that does to you. For me I want them replaced. Well actually you know what. Just like that. How much do you guys get. These in pace and like $56. Well you can pay the rent this month.

That was my guess. Johnny he along with actors David Burns and Patty Ross in the film oxymorons and Johnny he wrote directed and stars in the film. I have to tell you it's pretty devastating film I mean it looks like you just described that it went you know from zero to 60 almost in the way that it was used and abused. And you really get that sense in the movie it feels like everybody in Charlestown is on Oxycontin. That's what you wanted to get across. Yeah that's what I wanted to get across was just think the collateral damage the pilled I mean the pharmaceutical company made three billion dollars a year at an average since 1998 off the drug so that just shows how much not just in Boston alone I mean we were hit the hardest I would say but. How much destruction is caused world you know world worldwide nationwide I had people from Florida coming up for my premiere my film you know from different advocate groups and stuff people from Missouri Canada. I mean it was insane that the people came out to support this because of how much destruction this drug has done to people in Charlestown it just I mean it took over it became the drug of choice and nothing else did where you know you

can go to Midwest or you can go out you know down south and crystal meth is huge and you don't see crystal meth around here really there's no real crystal meth epidemic here but pharmaceutical drugs have some reason. They just hit hadan Oxycontin is the worst because it's taken so many lives it's taken more lives than any other drug that I know personally in my life. Near and dear to my heart so that's why I really had to target this and show this. It feels like you know as I said so intensive in so you know you're thinking if you're watching it well it can't be everybody because you know see my impression of Charlestown is that it's a little rough around the edges in some sections but you know not I've never knew anything about this and but there's also the trendy restaurants over there that's what I'm thinking. It's rough in the middle. It is like people go over there for the trendy restaurants that's what I'm you know and the hot new condos you know that's not once it's a different story here. You know it is I think I think one and I'm sure we get the same but I think one major point the movie has though and it's not now is sure that's a good little microcosm but it's everywhere now. And you know just to give

you a quick idea the timeline. You know the drug was introduced in 1906. It has four years to really take off before the media really kind of starts to begin to understand this in 2000. And you know in 2000 there's a you know result of you know some directors or some doctors are arrested for illegally prescribing at the same time there is a rash of violence in Washington County in Maine and the Boston Globe actually did a good job of covering that. And from there you kind of see it spiraling out of control. But by that time the statistic you read about Charles Town Charles Town beginning you know 1998 and on so that by the time anyone really knows what's going on you know people are dying. And as far as the switch to heroin. Just to give people out there an example this has been described to me so many times. It's the description changes a little with each you know addict or former addict but the best one I've ever gotten was that as if there's some if you don't have it as if there's someone inside of your head swinging a hammer as hard as they can so you know it all of a

sudden you know someone like myself never done opiates would say I could never imagine doing heroin but ok. But if I didn't have $80 in there somewhere and if I was feeling like that and I could get a $5 bag of dope it might be a different story. And also a pill doesn't feel threatening as Johnny just doesn't it doesn't feel like you know and you know in fact so you know some of the some of the research for related stories I've done over the years and I interviewed a family on the North Shore who had a you know an obviously everybody problem is a problem but you know there are a lot of people high school it was a high school athlete the girl played softball. I think she broke her femur. They prescribed oxycontin this was a you know straight a jock this is kind of you know like your afterschool special. She was shooting not just sniffing shooting heroin. Within two weeks of being prescribed the Oxycontin. So this is I'm talking then this is something that can happen overnight. You know people are robbing stealing before it. I feel so bad for these parents and family members in so many cases because it's almost like they feel so responsible but in some cases I mean they it happened. You know no pun intended you know right under their nose like it's like and

it's really fast and just as far as some of the. You know things he said about the manufacturer. You know those That's not debatable. And those produce farmer paid in 2007 nearly 20 million dollars to I believe 26 states across the country. Massachusetts being one of them receives almost a million dollars. And I mean if you read what they admitted to is so egregious that you know sure it dipped into their profits but their profits as you know as testimony said were based on. Their pharmaceutical representatives lying about the addictive nature of this drug. So you know we're not talking conspiracy theories here we're talking about decisions with attorney generals offices across the country so. And you know let me just put it this way we said the trial came out in 1996 2010 last year was the first time they ever introduced a pill that can't be crushed if injected etc.. Wow. That was my guest Chris foreknown. He's a writer for The Boston Phoenix

and he's written this story about Johnny he Johnny he's written his own story in a film. And we're going to talk to both of them on the other side of this break about more about Johnny hese film. Right now we're talking just for those of you who have tuned in about the Oxycontin drug trade and how it made its way to Charlestown and forever change that part of Boston. And I'm joined by John he a Charlestown native and former drug dealer. He's made the film the moron's which is based on his life as a dealer in Charlestown. I'm also joined by Christopher run of the Boston Phoenix who recently wrote a story on the case. And we'll be back after this break with more. Stay with us. Support for WGBH comes from you and from the New England mobile book fair in Newton. For 54 years. New England's independent bookstore. The New England mobile book fair. Find them online at an e-book fair dot com. That's an

e-book fair dot com and from Bentley University's McCallum graduate school. Offering full time and part time MBA programs along with seven business focused M.S. degrees. Details at Bentley dot edu slash grad. Matthew Alexander was a military interrogator in Iraq who rejected harsh techniques and taught his team to do the same. Some interrogators have a natural ability to understand emotions and to use emotions because in the interrogation room emotions rage like wildfires. We'll talk with Matthew Alexander on the next FRESH AIR. He has a new book called Kill or Capture. Joining us. This afternoon at two on eighty nine point seven of the APB age. Hi I'm Annie cops food editor at Yankee Magazine. And if you love learning new recipes with public

broadcasting then I hope you join me for the WGBH learning towards taste of Europe get away with the one and only chef shocker aboard the marina. The newest luxury liner in the Oceana fleet will travel to London Paris Barcelona and Rome to taste and make some great dishes along the way for dates and booking information visit WGBH dot org slash learning tours. It would be possible in the world he has written. Him in front he is wrong and he definitely gave my money. Coming up a real call on eighty nine point seven. WGBH. I'm Cally Crossley This is the Calla Crossley Show. If you're just tuning in we're talking about Charles Town and the profound effect that OxyContin drug trade has had on that part of the city. I'm joined by Johnny Hickey a Charlestown native who wrote directed and starred in The Independent Film oxymorons which is based on his life and role in the

Oxycontin drug trade. I'm also joined by Christopher own a reporter for The Boston Phoenix who recently published an in-depth story on Johnny Hickey and listeners before I go back to Jodi he did talk I want to give you a sense of the film oxymorons And here's a clip from the trailer. Watch this miracle pill get me in my group. We quickly ran the street value. I'm feeling seasick for it is a like a robbery in my. Living in it's like oh. You're going to go. Trying everything in my life. I hope that this time sure I will have a happy. New year. Well in. Hong. Kong. If you want. That was from the film oxymorons which my guest Johnny he wrote directed and stars in. And Johnny it's your story. It's so dark it's so depressing and it's so not your life now. Why did you decide

you had to write this. You know I lost five people really I mean I mean lost a lot of people to the tribe but I lost five people who were very very close to me to this drug and such a small closed in amount of time. I always want to get into film that was a Since I was a kid and my lifestyle was a criminal deter me for ever thinking I could go that route. And I decided you know why not go far. You know I was thrown off an 80 foot cliff survived was told I was not going to walk again was crippled. Somehow God would have you believe in call what you will. I got everything back and I said you know what I'm going to go for this and I'm going to write this script. OK now you're just saying that like oh yeah I fell off a cliff and woke up and then I just changed my life none and that's it. Thank you and tell people about that moment because that was the time that you decided to change your life. Yeah so I was at a hotel party down in Quincy at the Marriott Hotel down in 93 and I was you know Street juvenile stuff

guys and queens you know tell girls I you when all this crazy stuff the drugs you know a mixture of multiple things but mainly like it was just the juvenile side wasn't all the you know the drugs were part of it but it wasn't like a drug deal gone bad or anything like that totally you know I mean it was it was a mixture of things and a friend of mine got jumped in the pocket a lot and I had the opportunity to do the solid thing and be that you know solid Street guy and not leave my friend hanging that was a scene a shirt was all bloody and he was holding to this Bush brush and then understand why and I said you know what I'm going to go take a B went home and if I knew that I was standing on the edge of an 80 foot cliff that might change my mind a little bit but make a long story short I went and got a couple punches in the back of the head a rock thrown off and they throw me off they push me off on this 80 foot cliff. I woke up seven days later Boston Medical Center a dislocated hip separating my pelvic bone my urethra was torn and my bladder exploded and they said that

chances were I was never going to walk again you know I know that was a given because my pelvic bone would inhale feel like a you know like separated and maybe never have kids. The bathroom all that stuff because I was you know you know peeing through a catheter and stuff. And somehow I don't know I can explain it. Like I got everything back a hundred and ten percent and that was the turnaround point for me and meanwhile I'm in the hospital with a guy that I went to save and how was my house still in my flat screen TV and saw an ad for heroin so I mean my God that shows the loyalty on the streets and how you know it's a bunch of bull you know. And that's what started converting me slowly it was hot it wasn't like an overnight process was like oh my new guy and I got my gloves and you know I create miracles it was like it was a struggle for me to step out of the box with my street friends and you know I got a job at the comedy connection I said I'm a comedian and so I get into the entertainment world my guys a chorus you know. I mean I started like developing to get there.

Yeah I started manifesting this idea on this. You know when I wrote the screenplay on this movie and then James Gandolfini wanted to buy it from me that I knew I had something good on my hands and I support people who might not remember James Gandolfini was the star of The Sopranos HBO Sopranos go him. And you know there's a lot of him to come out and take interest in my project but I don't want to give it up. I don't want to sit on my hands I wanted to make sure that the same way I wrote the script I would deliver on Fillmore and you know and you know in the movie. So what film you could have written a book I guess or you know what did you think that I'm doing that. OK Sorry Chris I think Chris is definitely has the advantage on that. You know I wanted to make movies that's what I want to do that was you know that's what I want to do as a kid I want to be an actor. I figured you know the one way to act you can't go to these casting local casting calls in Saigon again even they got every under-five audition that I went to it's not going to launch my career.

The only way to launch a career is to write your own movie put yourself in it. Showcase your acting abilities. If they're worth it they're worth it and if it wasn't meant to be it wasn't meant to be in the way it's looking right now it's meant to be for me so you know that's why I did that an oxy call and again personal you know ties to it and nobody did a move you know actually call it such a big topic. That's I was a celebrity you know and I mean you need a listserv you need a B list celebrity. I have an A-list of Oxycontin my movie is you can affect more people across the world than Ben Affleck Matt Damon or anybody so that's my A-list but you know it's not just when I did the screening in Riviera I was you know you expect like a lot of young guys like me and there was it was a lot of like old couples doctor all walks of life all walks of life. They had to see the movie and support it. And honestly I think at any bad feedback from anyone who's seen the movie you know and I don't think anyone was just like you know blow smoke at me I just really think they really enjoyed it they got the message on different levels some people got it for. You know one set of things and other people got another set of things in a so many different layers. But in the movie

they can understand I touch on a lot of different things not even just drugs like racism and stuff like that that a lot of people in Boston when they come here make a movie a very afraid to touch on. Yes I mean I let our listeners hear another clip from your movie but I didn't want to put make one connection that you left out which is that you went to Bunker Hill Community College. I mean you didn't jump from I mean the hospital bit. I lived I went to the comic collection and then I wrote a movie you would actually went to college to learn how to write. So it's important for people to understand that you you went with a purpose you knew you wanted to write this movie or some movie like it and went there to get those skills and I want to give Bunker Hill Community College props as well. Yeah. They go great they had a great program. Yeah absolutely. OK. Here's another clip from oxymorons in this clip my guest Johnny he plays Danny a drug dealer based internal sound. And here is characters explaining what it means to snitch. I live in a place with street culture passed down from generation to generation

racism not snitching and climbing to the top of the neverending criminal food chain. My journey has brought me to new beliefs racism. Come on William we call black people and yet we were once called Guinea's in Mex. It's not the 1970s we don't snitch. What is the snitch someone looking out for number one. At the end of the day is that what everybody does anyways. Say what you want to blow me out. Yeah I help the Feds not only to save my own life but to help put a dent in the drugs and guns and it's taken everyone I love and pollute in my once beautiful storage city. That was my guest Johnny Hickey in the film oxymorons which he wrote directed and stars in. Now the piece that you referred to in helping the feds. You got involved with working as an informant with the feds and you've traveled all around the country and really trying to bust drug deals tell us about them. Yeah I was I came out of jail. I after the cliff I was approached I was the rand random thing I've come out of and

I quote a friend of mine had guns in his car and you know I was going to kind of talk myself out of it I told him I was working undercover in this rave. To bring down these drug dealers I totally made it up to these state troopers and they let me go. And sure enough you know the alphabet guys and I was just say OK if you know they don't like DEA or something. Yeah yeah yeah yeah I could go through the wall you know I mean so but I you know they came to me and wanted me to work for them. They produced photographs of me dating back years and to my my younger criminal history that I was like Ford by that they had followed me for so long and followed me and my prison and everything and they offered me you know you can go into that courthouse right now in the drug court and you know get you five years that's hanging over your head and then we're going to charge you for this that and the other thing because we have to or you can join the team you know pretty much

and you know people you know I'm a doctor agree with everything I've done. But those people the people that don't matter to me those are the people that are still living that lifestyle and still causing the pain and destruction in these communities. And if what I did means that I can go hang a project hallway and sell drugs or do anything bad I could care less the people that I'm dealing with. Like yourself and Christian. These are the people I want to surround myself with and it doesn't mean that those street codes don't matter to people like yourself and like him you know it's far as I'm concerned when I've learnt moving along in the process. You know you are with you I with you know what I mean. You know so I decided to do it and then I found redemption in it. You know I was everything that I had done wrong. You know I felt so much guilt flaw and bad energy. You know like a black cloud following me because I lost family members to this and here I am a strong part of something that I lost people I love to I want to make a how could I even be involved in something like that. You know people get home with their parents and. It's just really Doc and I could

feel my walls closing in and I said like a flip of a coin I was like I can either do this and get out of it or go back to you know this is the streets. Just not do nothing in you know work it you know a place to make $7 an hour the rest of my life and be miserable and eventually end up back to the street stuff. So I worked with these guys these guys became very very close with me and I work with them for five years locally. And you know I took down a lot a lot of heavy things you know I got a lot of drugs off the street. I think I got away with thirty five hundred guns off the streets of America which is amazing so how many lives did I say of doing that. So it's a big redemption day for me more than anything and then on top of that you know getting my name changed or a semi criminal record that's priceless you know what I mean. So now you know when I get pulled over Mina whatever a speeding you know a traffic violation and they run my name. I don't get ripped out of my car my trunk churched and five more police cars come up and bother me because of

my racket. You know I'm a citizen again and as long as I stay the course and I do the right thing I can live a normal happy life. You know I got my life back by doing that so OK so people can say what they want but I am who I am and I'm happy with everything I'm doing and done so. Chris when you you know you met Johnny Five years ago as you said but the arc of his story it seems you know it's so fantastic. You know were you a little skeptical. Yeah he flipped and now he's working for the feds and now he's on the straight and narrow Are you do you really see the change right away when you met him. Well I didn't oh here's I. So we met in 2006. I did my follow up while he was filming in September 2009 and we kept in touch and spoke maybe every couple months over the years. He would call me from a different phone number. I was constantly getting text from Johnny this new phone number new phone number like all random always different area code he was in this place he was in Vegas that one. And you know I'm a reporter pretty busy and on top of that I know I just I didn't have any

idea so long story short I found out about all this five months ago this part of the story like you said in the beginning this is really two maybe even three stories. And I was kind of blown away. You know it's in the story he kind of broke it to me. You know we went out for a drink downtown and he broke out a stack of just identifications with different you know and everything driver's licenses so Security card stuff with different ident all his face on it but none of them said Johnny Hickey. Well if it this way if there was anyone who you know I'm a reporter you know what as a reporter what do we say you know if your mother tells you she loves you check it out right. Yeah you know Johnny but you know a good place to start was OK. Now some things make sense. Surely I wasn't about to just go and report it right then and there but if anyone was going to get away with having this story if there's anyone I was going to take it and really actually spend a lot of time looking at it it was this guy. And you know it really was a truly you know he and he didn't mention you know Vanguard is doing a current TV vanguard that wanted what they would a

Peabody Award for their work on an Oxycontin epidemic. Already the pill mills in South Florida they're doing their follow up on Johnny and you know this is this is like this is an unbelievable story in every way and it means it. Sure it's his story but it it speaks to a lot you know speaks to the whole story right. Yeah I told her the whole time along the way. I was traveling the country I said I got something for you when I get home that you'll never believe me I'm going to let you know I get the you know we get that all the time. The film beautifully shot your photographer is great. But as I said it is really violent now. Did you hype your own story or is this really just like. Because I'm telling you it's rough. No I don't have my own story. You know as far as you know some of the bang bang shoot em up kind of stuff. I mean that's obviously embellished a little bit. But that stuff I really witnessed as a kid with my I mean I watch my uncle get shot in front of me six times I watched him before he got shot stabbed my other uncle who was his own brother my mother's two brothers

got him like a fish in the pocket a lot when a bunch of them in a big Rambo knife you know I mean these are all things I witnessed you know when people see me go off the roof in the movie they're like going off a roof and survived like Uchenna me. But compare that to the five storey 80 foot fall. You know I mean I really did fall 80 feet and survive so a lot of that stuff is very true the jail stuff especially. I wanted to bring up because that's how jail really is. That's how it really is it's not those typical shower scenes where they come in and they get you. It's not like that. You know it's all mental. The cops are always playing mind games with you they're always involved in stuff. It's not you know I mean it's not Hollywood in Hollywood nobody can really touch or really goes down not from the prison breaks any of those shows you know. So probably because now those people actually were in jail. Right he. Rightly so. So you know me and my co-producer and fellow actor Brendan Brennan he did 11 years in the feds in Lewisburg which is one of the worst prisons in the country and he did 23. Is there with

him. I did three years and locally around Massachusetts five years altogether like bounce around but three years straight so we definitely knew how to make a film authentic and on top of that real correctional officers donated their time to play the correctional officers and search teams and stuff in the jail scenes in a real jail that was donated to us down of monsoonal County and that just made it so Riggs everyone's playing themselves. Right you're right. And real enemy fighters beating the snot out of each other. Yeah I really I got that. Yeah that was it's really it's really quite something. Curious to know what is the response from people both from the old neighborhood and then just regular folks who I mean. There response from people who have seen the movie is I haven't got to know everyone who's critique the movie and everybody who even wants to critique the movie. Give me some kind of like negative feedback on it. They don't. And it's I don't think it's because they're frogs I asked them to and I don't be afraid to tell me what you genuinely think. Where I went wrong like with what you did and what the money you had

and where you're at right now in this movie in the story and the characters are so strong and compelling and there's such a message in there. This is a cult classic this is like a one of a kind movie and that's what everybody says they keep saying it's like the American Trainspotting slash record embroidery right you know and it you know everybody that has seen the movie has strongly strongly strongly believe that this is going to have a major called following. You know for instance Thursday night Micky Ward who has a movie about his life. Yeah the fight or the fight. Yeah. Well you know Oscar nominated came out Thursday night for the closer with his trainer said now next to me and watch the movie with me and support my movie and loved it and loved every minute of it so it's like you know he's like wow what a great life story you have on your mind out of the water. You know so you know I mean so that's huge right there that a guy like that you know in just a typical good guy Mickey Ward and. But to come out and support me you know I mean so. I was wondering I mean I think that's the amazing first we have all these interesting

local stories happening at the same time out here. What do you think when you think about the people who weren't as fortunate as you are even though you got out the hard way who've been left behind what happened to those people. And I know that you want this film to be an anti-drug message film. Yeah. And is it working do you think. I think so I get a lot of comments on my YouTube trailer and stuff that people have seen. Some one person even mentioned I can't even see this movie because it's too real on me. I've had people walk out of the theater and say no disrespect for walking in the theater but you just touched on stuff that really got under my skin and like really. Like I couldn't. It brought me back to where I was so my family member that I lost. And then I've had people say oh this is going to make me think twice about picking up a bag of heroin a needle every time. That's what I wanted to get across I wanted to be Doc I wanted to be crazy. I wanted to be you know jaw clench and have people covering their face at certain scenes and I would sit there and watch the audience and they would I would get reactions I wanted.

So I definitely think that if I could change one person's life with this movie I did my justice you know I mean on that end of it. OK Chris what's Charlestown like now I mean we this was 1999 early 2000 you know we will we were we were there the other day for the photo shoot and you know the buckle projects and I dis is totally not fact and I having the call to know it doesn't seem like they're even filling the vacant apartments the hallways are I know that a lot of the locks on the front doors don't work the hallways and one of the hallways we were in literally had dirty diapers to throw them all over the floor. I mean it's it's a disaster that a lot if you look at the the the the dumpsters have been like overflowing for the entire winter I don't know I mean it's a complete wasteland right now. I'm not somebody else and of course you know in your time at the bunker I will project there's three housing project developments and Charles Town Bunker Hill I think in particular is. It really isn't a bad place

right now as far as the drugs I don't know I haven't called you know Chata trials and against drugs that's a place for anybody who's you know information about the specific epidemic there but I think the sentiment is that you know this is you know Johnny's generation this this spread quick to like the North Shore and and beyond so I think when we talk about Charles Town and in this context you know we're going to talk about actually Canada is the place to look now you can still get the pills that you could crush up there. They've been hit the way Charlestown was hit particularly the Toronto area horribly in the past two to three years so you know Charles Town is one of the places where it started and not just the only Of course if there was you know Kentucky Virginia had horrible problems West Virginia coal miners who live in constant pain. We're talking about entire coal mining communities 80 percent addiction rates for some profession. I mean it's unbelievable so yeah but as far as Charleston I don't know where Johnnie grew up is not looking too good now would you say to me last night you said you can't wait till they tell the police yeah yeah I just wish they got it right into condos or something you know in a mean.

Well you at least you put it on the map here. Thank you both for coming in to talk to me about this work that you've done and what you continue to do. Johnnie I know you don't know yet where the film will be played next but people should just be in touch with you via Facebook and social media and out oxymorons movie dot com and I wasn't consciously updating everybody and everything and it's looking good so good. Thanks Kelly I'm Kelly crossing. We've been talking about the Oxycontin drug trade in Charlestown and I've been joined by Johnny Hickey a Charlestown native who wrote directed and starred in The Independent Film oxymorons which is based on his life and the drug scene in Charlestown. Also been joined by Chris Brown a reporter for The Boston Phoenix. He recently published an in-depth story on Johnny. Up next it's our regular Monday feature local made good. And in the spirit of Valentine's Day we're honoring a New England native. Next comes to figure a kitchen a conversation heart. Stay with us. Support for WGBH comes from you. And from gentle giant moving company.

Nationwide moving services using our own gentle giant employees for each stage of interstate and local moves. More information online at Gentle Giant dot com. And from the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Benjamin Santer performing Tullus fantasy Enigma Variations and Shimon off Second Violin Concerto featuring Ilya choler February 24th twenty six and twenty seventh Boston Phil org and from the growing number of WGBH sustainers who manage their contributions to public radio with the help of monthly installments and automatic renewals. Learn more about sustaining membership at WGBH dot org. It's tough to be in two places at once. The reporters for the world go to hundreds of places for the world and or so they can see in Cairo for the world. MATTHEW BELL Gaza City and I'm Lisa Mullins In Boston as the world brings you a global perspective on the news with the worldwide network of correspondents in Rabat Morocco or Pakistan. Beirut Istanbul. In Baghdad listen to the world.

Coming up at 3 o'clock here at eighty nine point seven WGBH. Celebrate 40 years of masterful performances with WGBH in the critically acclaimed PBS series masterpiece Saturday evening April 9th at the WGBH studios. Enjoy a night of good food fun drinks and a look back at this series remarkable history. Share a toast with masterpiece producers and take in a cabaret performance by the host of Masterpiece Mystery. Alan Cumming and a damn good hand me downs in a ticket started $50 called 6 1 7 0 0 0 50 400. I'm President John Abbott with an urgent request. Congress is about to vote on a proposal to eliminate all federal funding for public radio and TV. You should have something to say about that. Go to WGBH dot org. Tell Congress how you feel. And thank you. I'm Cally Crossley and this is the Calla Crossley Show. It's time for our regular Monday feature local made good where we celebrate people who bring honor to New England. Today in honor of

Valentine's Day we're paying tribute to a New England confection neck owes conversation heart also known as the sweet heart. Joining me in the studio is Amy Scott the marketing director for the New England Confectionary Company which is more commonly known as Necco. They've been making the sweethearts since 1866. Amy Scott welcome. Hello Calli Happy Valentine's Day. I'm not too proud to say that I have a love hate relationship with Valentine's Day but I love these candies and I drove my producer's nutty because I want to talk about it today on Valentine's Day. Well you know I have been around for a long time so. So hopefully they brighten your day a little bit I do. And you might not know this but today people driving on the expressway and looking up the GBH Murrell a mural rather is a candy heart with GBH stamped on it. We just honor you in that way as well. So why do you think these conversation hearts are just so popular. So it was interesting. We heard as we like to say is when you have something sweet to say say it was

sweet heart and with really that motto that mantra it really means a lot of things to a lot of different people so I think that's really what sweet hearts are all about if you want to share you know I love you you can do that with a sweet heart if you just want to say text me you can do that as well. They really run the gamut. And actually if you think about it it's one of the first kind of social media devices so sweethearts have been texting way longer than you know the CSA mass were available or even tweets. So they're the ultimate candy for those who want to say I love you or anything in between so one of the ones one of the sayings on the on the candies that are staples. And then one of the new ones. Yeah. So we would we would always be missed if we didn't have any classic expressions in the bag and so some of our classic expressions include you know I heart cutey pie. Ask me marry me that's actually the most popular sweetheart expressionlessly marry me. Adore me. Let's see. Me n you. So really classics have been around for a very long

time. And then what's fun about sweethearts is every year there is a new set of expressions and you can sometimes you solicit them from people you ask the public what would you like to see on that day and that's new for us. So before it was a bunch of people in a room being like so what do you think. For this year. But what was nice about last year when we started this was we we thought how silly it is silly of us to think that we know what should be on our sweet heart it's really up to you know we're going to ask the American people to tell us what do you want. You know what do you want in your hearts and we got over 10000 responses from people. You know everything from Bacon me which I know to some of the top expressions which we have produced for people in their hearts this year and last year alone. OK so tell us the top expressions of the letter. Yes I'll tell you through what the 10 top 10 will actually are. OK and then I'll go through some new ones for this year. OK. Excellent. So top 10 last year text me tweet me tons of technology there.

Love Bug we think that's kind of Jonas Brothers inspired. You ROCK ME AND YOU LOVE ME. So me and puppy love so those are the top 10 last year. OK. And you know it's nice about that as it's every You can tell there's a wide range of people that are writing in you know everything puppy love to tweet me it's a very wide range of ages there so we're proud of that. This year the overwhelming response was around movement and action based loving so some of the most popular this year were holding hands high five for me. Go go go. Race me. So it's all about movement and showing that you care about someone through an action as opposed to just like a Tweet me message so. Oh wonderful. Now I read in one of these files this sweet story about a man who gathered all the MARRY ME ones to propose to his now wife. Yeah I guess it went well. I thought that was so sweet. So every year we get you know desperate lovers who want

who are requesting marry me sometimes a particular color. They don't always ask for the follow up part which is to say yes but they always ask that marry me hard. We did a great get a great story about a couple that kept their hearts and they still have them on their bedside table one has the marry me and one has to say yes. We try to oblige when we do get comments. So if you're looking for Marry Me heart you know where to find us New England Confectionary. Well try to hook you up. Now this is a very busy time obviously for you guys but the months leading up to Valentine's Day that are your busiest. Yes so we. We produce 13 million pounds of hearts. Wow. Yeah that's a lot of hearts and to get there a lot of sweethearts and to get there we start production in March believe it or not so next month. Our team is going to be at back at it again to get really to that 13 million kind of heart poundage rate that we need they have to start in March and they build up all the way through. It's interesting we spend you know nine to nine out of 12 months a year building up our sweethearts

but they really sell off the shelf in six weeks so you know you work all year for a product that's just gone like that. So you answered one because one of my questions was What do you do in the rest of the year but you're still you're cranking them out to get ready. Right. We are actually doing a convection area itself where the oldest multi-line candy company in the United States were one of the only companies left in the United States a lot of our camp competitors have moved offshore. For she brought her labor off turn it is but we are happy to employ over 400 people right here in Revere Massachusetts. We make products that have other that have other seasonal application so we make Havilland the thin mince we make Necco Wafer I love the way but I love love love the right so it's not know what the purple wafer is call no but I love you very close. Oh no wonder I love it it's so delicious. Yeah I love it. You know we make products to make money mounts for Easter. So we make products for other seasons but really Valentine's Day we're cranking out about 9 9 months of the year. Now you have different flavors also that you know some people might think that the hearts are all one flavor but they're actually different flavors what

some of the different flavors so we did kind of we did kind of increase our flavor impact last year and we did bump up the flavors I'd say prior to there was a bit of an overwhelming wintergreen flavor in the bag. But yeah we're happy to say that this year you know as well as last year we've got some really great flavors. The new flavors we have are blue raspberry and green apple. We are like a sour is a sour more of a sour profile OK. We also have a watermelon pink lemonade in our Dalzell product bag but our staple bag has blue raspberry green apple grape strawberry lemon and orange so those are the six flavors that we have. And I also read that you have also bilingual tics. We did we have some Spanish sweethearts and Hispanic sweethearts that you know target's been a big supporter of. But we've got tons of them in the marketplace and and people can practice their Spanish or say that they you know say many different ways to show you care in Spanish as well.

So all I can say I know that's that's what it is. That is that would be good. I don't want to. Yeah. So I notice and I don't know if you have anything to do with this but you must I'm looking at Kay Jewelers an ad that's running everywhere and the guy is got sweet hearts in his hand so we have a license so we don't have anything to do with that we love when people you know. These are product especially in TV that's fabulous for us but we do have an incredible license that we work with on the jewelry side and is it exclusive license for all sweethearts jewelry. You should check them out. I've been trying to get some of you have our stories we do in our licensed partners World Trade jewelers they did the Hershey for Hershey Kisses OK. So they're doing all our sweethearts our sweethearts jewelry so they're exclusive license. So what is it like a silver little they have some great charm ideas with you know a sweet heart charm necklace and a bracelet and they do everything for them so really affordable price points to really get some high end silver and gold jewelry so world trade as is really going to break out in the marketplace in the next couple months to the next year and they'll be

carrying all of our spiritually. Well they must have some connection to the Kay Jewelers because that and I don't know if you've seen it but it's runnin everywhere. Yeah I have a great relationship with Kay Jewelers. OK all right. Because the guy's name and she and I think it's so funny because the lady in the ad says business you can't say all that on a heart. So how much can you actually say on a sweet oh it's a great point. So you know I think there's a lot of people out there that have gotten a smudged sweetheart but it's really because we use some old school printing presses that we're happy to say we still use today you know laserjet printing for us sweethearts. But really that does provide some constraints because we're not using computer acting or anything like that. And they can store what font do you use. We were confidential for a sweet one I guess. OK BUT IT'S FIVE by four five no more than five letters by four on the second row so there's two rows the first can be five. OK it's a bit of a wider part of the Heart All right. Second row is four but we don't like double use those

those count for two spaces because W is there take up a lot of it. Give me an example of like a bell because I'm am blank. Who ink. Oh OK all right when you're away you can only be four by four because that Debbie is just it's pretty bit. OK so what was what's actually the best expression to put on neatly on a on a candy or you know I have I think I say yes three my three that's pretty easy one for us. OK. Now I always have to ask people who are involved with these products. Do you eat them. I do. Constantly you know when I when I was I was honored to kind of take over sweethearts and manage that business say they said So do you want to work on our chocolate products or do you want to work on our sugar products and I said I'm such a sugar junkie you know I've got to get the sugar stuff so I got to run a little bit you know a couple more miles during the week to burn it off but I'm constantly if you call I'll probably be eating smart. So do you have favorite flavor. My favorite player is actually to dazzle product it's a really kind of fun tween product

with expressions like my BFA. There's a high heel shoe on some of the heart. Oh I like that one. Yeah that's a cool and the shopping purse everything but my favorite probably is watermelon I love watermelon. OK very good. Now Dare I ask have you ever been given the heart that says marry me and my boyfriend will kill me for saying this but he doesn't really celebrate Valentine's Day. Oh yes. How could that be. That whole our affiliates are about how make every time I say it's a little sweeter and I'm not even going to get flowers so that I may be on it. He's a special holiday guys so maybe St. Patrick's day I'll get some flowers or something. Hello fearless. I think he needs to step up to that and you know what. I read that you all are the way that this tradition continues is that the kids love it and then the parents of its like. That's right so with our sweet hearts in those bolder flavors. So really the reason for that is to keep this particular around for the next generation and you know those kids nowadays they love those sour kind of really

crazy in her face flavor so that we are starting to try to keep these sweet hearts around for the next generation and keep it made in the US for another more another hundred years. All right. Well I love it. We've been talking about the classic confection Necco sweet heart also known as a conversation arc. I've been joined by Amy Scott the marketing director for the New England Confectionary Company more commonly known as Nicole Kidman making a sweetheart since 1866. This is the Kelly Crossley Show. Where a production of WGBH radio Boston NPR station for news and culture. Happy Valentine's Day.