Dopesick: Fentanyl’s Deadly Grip (2016)

Dopesick: Fentanyl’s Deadly Grip is a documentary that takes viewers into the heart of the opioid crisis, focusing on the powerful drug fentanyl. Here’s what we learn:

The Crisis Unveiled

• The film follows the lives of people in Alberta, Canada, who are profoundly affected by fentanyl.
• The underlying source of the fentanyl crisis in the country traces back to 2012.
• In that year, the notorious prescription painkiller OxyContin was pulled from pharmacy shelves, replaced by a supposedly “safer” alternative called OxyNeo.
• However, this change had unintended consequences.

The Emergence of Counterfeit Fentanyl

• In response to the OxyContin shift, counterfeit fentanyl disguised as fake OxyContin pills began circulating.
• These counterfeit pills proliferated, leading to a full-blown crisis in Canada.
• The western part of the country, including Alberta, became a major epicenter of the fentanyl epidemic.

The Human Toll

• Families grapple with the devastating impact of fentanyl addiction.
• Lives are lost, communities shattered, and hope dwindles.
• The film underscores the urgent need for harm reduction, accurate information, and compassionate responses.

Dopesick: Fentanyl’s Deadly Grip is a stark reminder that behind every statistic lies a human story—a struggle for survival in the face of a deadly drug.