Painkiller: Inside the Opioid Crisis

About the film

We are passionate about telling important local stories about our neighbourhoods and their people, in the areas where we live and work, to help drive change.

Painkiller: Inside the Opioid Crisis is the first installment of our new TELUS Health Originals series which tells the human story behind the opioid epidemic. The documentary seeks to raise awareness and reduce stigma by educating and informing viewers on what Fentanyl is and how it is affecting our country. No socio-economic group is spared in this crisis – it affects us all. This compelling documentary features important stories of Canadians who have survived opioid addictions, and the families of those who didn't.

A multifactorial epidemic fueled by legal and illegal activity, exacerbated by well-intentioned drug policies and annihilated by fentanyl (a drug 100x times more powerful than heroin with a nearly unmanageable margin of error that is contaminating supplies everywhere), 'Painkiller: Inside the Opioid Crisis' features heartbreaking interviews with those who have survived opioid addictions and the families of those who didn't.

The director of the documentary, Mathew Embry, also asks experts including frontline responders, border services and addiction specialists to provide their perspective of the underlying problem to this ongoing crisis: How can our society treat pain without causing more? Awareness is a critical first step into understanding and then treating this crisis.

The heart-wrenching facts about the opioid crisis in Canada

In 2017 alone, there were nearly 4,000 apparent opioid-related deaths in Canada and in the first three months of 2018, more than 1,035 Canadians died as a result of opioid use.

A recent article in the Globe and Mail revealed that, as a result of the opioid crisis, life expectancy in British Columbia has dropped for the first time in decades – and threatens to do the same across our country. In British Columbia, of the over 1400 deaths from drug overdose in 2017, only 11% of those deaths occurred on the streets. The majority of those happened in homes and important to note that this crisis affects every socio-economic group.

Our goal is to encourage Canadians to spread awareness about the opioid crisis and to help end the stigma of addiction.