A documentary film ‘Dope Sick: Fentanyl’s Deadly Grip’ that looks at Alberta’s fentanyl crisis is returning to Red Deer.
Sunnybrook United Church member Shirley Challoner said after she watched the film earlier this year at Red Deer Justice Film Fest she knew more people had to see it.
“The message needs to get out. We need to begin to get a conversation going,” said Challoner who organized the screening of the film at the church on Sept. 24 at 7 p.m.
Admission is free.
The 2016 film by Vice Essentials Canada follows the lives of urban and rural Albertans impacted by the opioid drug fentanyl.
A recent provincial opioid report showed Red Deer had by far the highest rate of fentanyl-related deaths at 44.7 per 100,000 population in the first six months of the year.
Challoner said the film can be difficult to watch with youth as young as 14 so addicted to fentanyl that their lives were out of control.
“I hear the stories, but I had not seen it visually on a screen, to see what drives them when the addiction has got them to the point where they will do anything to get their next fix. There needs to be some help.”
She said some fentanyl users in the film wanted to get clean, but counsellors, as compassionate as they were, had to tell them that the wait for treatment was six months.
“You could see the desperation in their eyes, and when they were asking for help it wasn’t there for them at that moment. You know full well after six months they’re going to be so caught up in it at that point that they’re not going to be able to go and get help. If they survive that long.”
Following the screening of the film at the 12 Stanton St. church, a discussion will be led by Safe Harbour Society executive director Kath Hoffman who will bring someone who has lived experience with fentanyl.
Hoffman said she’s always hesitant to pay too much attention to any particular substance, but fentanyl is killing people so fast.
“What (the film) is going to bring to people is the human experience to the drug so that’s going to be good. That’s what we need,” Hoffman said.
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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