A documentary, named ‘Chasing Heroin’, reveals the distress and obstacles faced by drug addicts while trying to overcome their addiction. The documentary has been written, directed and produced by Marcela Gaviria.

Though the opioid epidemic has been in existence for the past many decades, the solutions being offered for overcoming the addiction are not quite widespread. Public health solutions, particularly the medication-assisted treatment involving methadone and buprenorphine, are still at a very basic level and not accepted by masses.

Gaviria revealed that she first heard of the heroin epidemic in 2013, following the increased incidents of overdoses in New Hampshire and Vermont. She stated that Seattle and Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) summed up a transformation from previous wars on drugs to novel methods of handling the demand. Gaviria originally wanted two participants in the LEAD program and track their life over a period of time. Meanwhile, she and her team realized that it was necessary to reveal the other aspect, the drug courts, which is a widespread model.

Gaviria was on hunt for someone who shifted from opioids to heroin, in an effort to understand the underlying story of the opioid epidemic. She found Cari Creasia, who shifted from being a soccer mom to a drug house junkie. Gaviria’s documentary shows the successes and the failures of the LEAD program, particularly in the wake of patients having to await treatment opportunity or worse not allowed to enroll for treatment. She added that the nation lacks the number of buprenorphine-certified doctors.

She also suggested a clear transformation in terms of acceptance of harm-reduction approaches. She recommended LEAD to work towards taking measures to find employment opportunities for their clients. She revealed treatment availability is insufficient and services are horrible. Rates of relapse are extremely high and insufficient studies have been conducted to find the adequate solutions.