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.
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.
Using an opioid for a pain relief drug has a long history in New York City, where they were introduced as unregulated medicine: doctors began prescribing morphine pills to housewives in the 1880s. Journalist Christopher Booker uncovers New York’s history with opioids – from plant-based morphine, opium and heroin to lab-produced drugs like fentanyl – in a half-hour film about drug addiction, medical treatment, and drug criminalization over the course of decades. [Taken from YT description]
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.
This video uncovers the complex reality behind Methadone Mile, speaking with everyone from Harvard doctors and crack dealers to addicts fighting for survival and those who have overcome addiction to help others. As they dig deeper, they explore how this notorious area came to be, uncovering how a single failed infrastructure project may have played a pivotal role in the hundreds now living on the streets of Boston. This episode is sponsored by Better Help.
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.”
In 2021, over 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses, making it the deadliest year on record. The latest phase of the overdose crisis is being fueled by synthetic substances, often combined with fentanyl to create street drugs that are even more potent and addictive. Beyond Fentanyl explores this unsettling landscape by examining the spread of benzo dope and tranq, their devastating effects on North American communities, and how U.S. drug policy has contributed to this surge in synthetic street drugs.
Guyon Epsiner takes a closer look at the “war on drugs” through the lens of methamphetamine, a drug many New Zealanders consider to be the most dangerous. He talks to police, Australian politicians, treatment providers, and the Drug Foundation, but the real heart of the story comes from speaking with people who’ve lived through it themselves, diving into their personal experiences and struggles.