Private Project

Fentanyl Madness

Each year, more than 1000 people die from drug overdoses in Connecticut, and about 75% of those deaths involve fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid.

This film introduces viewers to families that have lost loved ones, to people who are in recovery from opioid use disorder, and to healthcare professionals who are trying to end the crisis.

At the core of the problem is stigma, which discourages many people from seeking treatment of any kind and others from seeking the most effective treatments. Instead, many try abstinence-based approaches, which succeed less than 10% of the time.

This film is a call to action against stigma and in favor of proven treatments--including methadone and buprenorphine. Unfortunately, much of what many people think they know about opioids is wrong.

  • Steve Hamm
    Director
    Shift Change, The Village: Life in New Haven's Little Italy
  • Scott N. Amore
    Editor
    Shift Change, The Village: Life in New Haven's Little Italy
  • Runtime:
    55 minutes 33 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 20, 2020
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Steve Hamm

Steve Hamm is a journalist, author and documentary filmmaker. He makes community-building documentaries--with the goal of helping people to understand and solve difficult social problems.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

This film was finished in the midst of the COVID crisis, a terrible disaster for our nation and many people in it. However, the COVID crisis will pass, and, after it does, we will still have the opioid crisis to contend with. Only by listening to medical science and abandoning stigma will this storm pass.