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Heroin: Walking Dead

52' (ENG, SPA)

Latest statistics show that in the US more than 65,000 people died from overdose related to heroin in 2017.

Even in the twenty years of the Vietnam war, fewer casualties were recorded. This trend appears to be driven largely by young adults aged 18–25 among whom there have been the greatest increases. 23 million people are currently in rehabilitation due to drug abuse. The use of heroin has been declared by Donald Trump as a national emergency. What caused this epidemic that does not distinguish between social class, race or gender and can we solve it?

Since 2010, death rates due to heroin overdose in the US have more than quadrupled. Recent increases in death are not only driven by heroin, but also from synthetic opioids like fentanyl. The highest increases in overdose deaths have been in the Northeast and Midwest, with a rising tendency in the South and West. Emergency calls connected to opioid overdoses increased by 30% from July 2016 through September 2017. And data from emergency departments show that the U.S. opioid overdose epidemic constantly continues to worsen.

For this documentary we go to Ohio to find out more about this epidemic growth in substance abuse and the reasons behind it.