April 24, 2025

The Methamphetamine Epidemic – PBS Frontline

This eye-opening video takes a deep dive into methamphetamine addiction in America, exploring its devastating impact on individuals, families, and communities. It also sheds light on the challenge of controlling the key ingredients in meth—ephedrine and pseudoephedrine—which are still legally sold in over-the-counter cold medications. Watch to understand the full scope of this crisis and the efforts to combat it.
April 24, 2025

Berlin Club Culture – Dancing, Drugs & Death

Berlin is a hot destination for partygoers – it’s the unofficial nightlife capital of the world. But it too frequently ends in tragedy, such as when a young American woman died of an overdose at Berghain. It is Berlin’s most iconic club, allowing countless people, both local and foreign, into its doors. This documentary delves into the current drug culture in Berlin, with a particular focus on the recreational use of ecstasy/MDMA at Berghain. It examines the ease with which these drugs are obtained and explores the effects that clubbing and drug use can have on both individuals and the community.
April 24, 2025

Zombies of Nairobi: Children Lost to Inhalants

A population of young people in Kenya, known as the “Zombies of Nairobi,” wander the streets in a daze, seemingly half alive due to consuming dangerous inhalants. The campsites where they live are filled with mounds of garbage and create a desolate and grotesque environment. Deprived of even the most basic necessities, such as food, water, and shelter, these children suffer daily. Tragically, the cause of their zombie-like state is due to the glue-sniffing epidemic that has gripped Nairobi’s street youth population. The side effects of inhaling dangerous substances can lead to a loss of concentration, lack of coordination, hallucinations, and even aggression towards others.
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

Methadone Mile: Inside Boston’s Drug 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.
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

Pieces of a Dream: A Story of Gambling

When Phillip Wong died by suicide, his family believed that staying silent might ease their pain. But his sister, filmmaker Michelle Wong, felt compelled to understand what had led him to end his life at just 36 years old. Through intimate conversations with those who knew Phillip best and her own honest reflections, Michelle embarks on a deeply personal journey. As she gently unravels layers of silence, she uncovers Phillip’s hidden struggle with gambling disorder and his descent into isolation, desperation, and depression. Set against the contrasting backdrops of Las Vegas’s bustling casinos and the quiet streets of St. Paul, Alberta, the documentary lays bare the raw grief of those left behind. As feelings of guilt, sorrow, and shame surface, a once-fragmented family slowly begins to rebuild a sense of closeness. This powerful and heart-wrenching film captures one sister’s relentless search for truth and healing—for herself, her family, and others impacted by addiction.
April 23, 2025

Understanding Joy: The Devastation of a Gambling Addiction

Understanding Joy takes a deep look into the life of Joy, a 57-year-old woman whose gambling addiction led her to embezzle $700,000 from two employers. Now facing sentencing, Joy wrestles with the weight of her actions and tries to help her children — and herself — understand the grip of her gambling addiction.
April 23, 2025

Afghanistan: The Billion Dollar Drug War

Drug use in Afghanistan is at an all-time high. With NATO forces withdrawing and local law enforcement authorities having little to no funding, the poppy fields are thriving. In this documentary, 101 East investigates how Afghan authorities are fighting to regulate the return of poppy farming, the ramifications of the global war on drugs, and what the future holds for this vulnerable nation. Fortunately, there is one woman in Kabul who works endlessly to help addicts. Laila Haidari founded “Mother Camp”, a rehabilitation centre devoted to helping hundreds of people recover from addiction and connecting them with support groups. She devotes her life to this underserved group, trying to convince them to stop using drugs, spending hours a day counselling, consoling, and keeping the peace.