April 25, 2025

Injecting Hope: Tackling Drug Overdose With Harm Reduction

Injecting Hope offers an unflinching, ground-level examination of the drug overdose crisis in North America and explores the potential role of harm reduction initiatives, such as safe injection sites, in addressing the epidemic. ABC7 News reporter Tara Campbell takes viewers to the streets of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside for an intimate look at the effects of North America’s first sanctioned safe consumption site, established more than two decades ago, on both individuals struggling with addiction and the broader community.
April 25, 2025

The Story Behind: Fentanyl (3 Part Series)

This three-part series, presented by RogersTV, delves into the opioid and fentanyl crisis and its widespread impact on communities across Ontario, Canada. The first video provides essential background, explaining what fentanyl is and how it has insidiously infiltrated neighborhoods. A local police officer emphasizes that “the misuse and abuse of fentanyl is a shared responsibility — it’s a public health issue that involves education, intervention, treatment, and enforcement.” Parts two and three build on this foundation, incorporating personal stories from individuals directly affected by addiction, along with insights from additional experts. The series explores how the pharmaceutical industry contributed to the emergence of a thriving Black Market, the efforts law enforcement is making to address the crisis, the rationale behind harm reduction strategies, and the common obstacles people face when seeking treatment.
April 24, 2025

Inside Canada’s Fentanyl Overdose Epidemic

SBS Dateline (Australia) wants to know what they can learn from the Canadian opioid crisis and the fatality of fentanyl, and use it as a warning for Australians. This news investigation discusses (1) why fentanyl kills so many young Canadians, (2) how it first came to Canada, (3) the importance of harm reduction services like supervised consumption sites, and (4) programs and support services in place to help people in several different ways.
April 24, 2025

Painkiller: Inside the Opioid Crisis in Canada

Nominated for Canadian Screen Award, this documentary covers the opioid crisis in Canada. “It features interviews with families who have lost loved ones, as well as healthcare workers and policy experts who question a health system that favors corporate profits over patients.” For example, they talk about the overprescribing of prescription medications, and how little to no punishments have been handed out. This documentary also advocates for harm reduction as a crucial way to combat this crisis.
April 24, 2025

Fentanyl: The Drug Deadlier than Heroin (VICE)

In 2015, nearly 300 people in Alberta lost their lives to fentanyl, with many of these fatalities linked to counterfeit, non-pharmaceutical pills. VICE offers an intimate and immersive feature film that delves into the fentanyl crisis in Canada, told through the lens of a community of drug users.
April 24, 2025

Overdose Crisis on the US-Canada Border: Steel Town Down

In 2017, tens of thousands lost their lives to opioid overdoses across the US and Canada, surpassing the peak death toll of the AIDS epidemic. In Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, the burden of this crisis rests on a few individuals working tirelessly to keep their community safe, mirroring the struggles in countless North American towns. Steel Town Down offers an intimate look at the town's lone harm reduction worker and a family's desperate efforts to save their son from becoming another victim of the epidemic.
April 24, 2025

Flood: The Overdose Epidemic in Canada

This documentary travels across Canada to discuss the magnitude of the opioid crisis / overdose epidemic and the importance of harm reduction initiatives across communities. You’ll learn about what harm reduction entails and why it is essential to combating this crisis because “since 2016, more than 12,800 Canadians lost their lives due to fatal overdoses.”
April 23, 2025

Beating Alcohol Addiction Through Evidence-Based Treatment

This documentary follows Mike Pond, a therapist managing his alcohol addiction. He was only ever offered one treatment after losing his practice, his house, his family, and becoming homeless: Alcoholics Anonymous. This abstinence-based treatment approach did not work for him, so he started looking for other ways to heal himself and others. Mike is an advocate for “compassionate, evidence-based treatments” and feels that “harm reduction, or any positive change, offers clients the best chance of beating addictions.”
April 20, 2025

Smashed: Breaking the Cycle of Alcohol Use Disorder

“Dr. Jeff Harries, the founder of the Canadian Alcohol Use Disorder Society, has been working to ensure that AUD be understand and treated as a medical condition.” He strongly believes that “people suffering from this disease should not be shamed or marginalized. His 20 years of experience in prescribing effective medications and spreading awareness of a more effective, compassionate approach has helped thousands of people to recover and heal.” Unfortunately, his work was derailed when he was diagnosed with ALS in 2018. He passed in 2021.