Substance Abuse (63)

Here At Home: A Model Person
Lynne Stopkewich 2012 2 min
Mr. MadDogg gives the lowdown on drugs, friendship and the street as he whips up breakfast for 100 fellow residents at the Bosman Hotel.

This short film is a chapter from Here At Home, a web documentary about mental health and homelessness that takes us inside the Mental Health Commission of Canada's At Home pilot project.
The Agony of Jimmy Quinlan
George Mihalka & George Williams 1978 27 min
This short documentary follows Jimmy Quinlan, one of the estimated 5000 men and women who lived in the streets and alleys of Montreal in the late 1970s. The film casts a harsh light on the realities of life on the street, as Jimmy battles his addictions; sobriety is a goal he's tried to achieve before and will probably have to try again. In and out of shelters, Jimmy's life is anything but stable, but his unique personality shines through in this affecting portrait.
Here At Home: A New Lease
Sarah Fortin 2012 3 min
Determined to go to NYC to reconnect with a famous actor, Simon is radically altering his life. He’s quit hard drugs, prostitution and crime and is moving into a new apartment.

This short film is a chapter from Here At Home, a web documentary about mental health and homelessness that takes us inside the Mental Health Commission of Canada's At Home pilot project.
Here At Home: Not Chosen
Sarah Fortin 2012 2 min
For every housed participant, another remains homeless. Wandering the empty corridors of his shelter, Valère reveals his struggle with HIV/AIDS, and his longing for a home of his own.

This short film is a chapter from Here At Home, a web documentary about mental health and homelessness that takes us inside the Mental Health Commission of Canada's At Home pilot project.
Here at Home: The Wound Inside
Darryl Nepinak 2012 3 min
Lukas makes his rounds as a caseworker, delivering meds, gifts and good cheer to participants while exposing the dark history behind the addiction issues that plague Winnipeg's Aboriginal homeless population.

This short film is a chapter from Here At Home, a web documentary about mental health and homelessness that takes us inside the Mental Health Commission of Canada's At Home pilot project.
Here At Home: Life Isn't Easy
Sarah Fortin 2012 5 min
Covering everything from bug bites to welding to drug use, Dr. Plante counsels participants with a mixture of tough love and compassion in this glimpse of her at work.

This short film is a chapter from Here At Home, a web documentary about mental health and homelessness that takes us inside the Mental Health Commission of Canada's At Home pilot project.
Beyond Kicks
Gary Toole 1972 28 min
In the early 1970s, a group of young volunteers, the Free Youth Clinic of Winnipeg, operated a "crisis bus" to rescue young people experiencing bad drug trips, usually from LSD. This film documents the activities of the volunteers: responding to and treating emergencies, whatever the hour, and obtaining further medical aid for their patients, if required.
Bevel Up: Chapter 1 - Opening
Nettie Wild 2019 5 min
The nurses meet Becky, give her a mouth pieces for a crack pipe, and chat about her pregnant daughter, Liz. Later, they meet Tracey in a hotel and discuss her upcoming test results.

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Bevel Up - Drugs, Users and Outreach Nursing
Nettie Wild 2007 45 min
Bevel Up follows street nurses as they reach out to people working in the sex trade, and people who use drugs in the alleys and hotels of Vancouver’s inner city. Most importantly the nurses reflect on the attitudes they bring to their work—attitudes that can make or break their relationships with the people to whom they provide practical, non-judgemental health care on a daily basis.

The Bevel Up Educational Playlists offer viewers a dynamic way to learn through more than four hours of additional footage, interviews and a Teachers Guide. The interactive resource gives students and instructors in the healthcare field access to the experiences of practitioners who work with people who use drugs in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

For more information, images, and clips, click here.
Bevel Up: Chapter 2 - Wheels & Barry
Nettie Wild 2019 6 min
“Wheels” drinks from his wheelchair in a park. Barry sells and injects drugs in the alleys. The outreach nurses establish relationships with both to encourage ongoing care.

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Bevel Up: Chapter 4 - Becky & Liz
Nettie Wild 2019 18 min
Street nurses Caroline Brunt and Sarah Levine find a homeless mother and daughter under a truck. Becky is seriously ill from an injection-related infection and is withdrawing from heroin. Her daughter, Liz, is pregnant and using “rock” cocaine. The nurses struggle to find them housing for the night as they negotiate with Becky to get health care and address her need for drugs.

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Bevel Up: Chapter 5 - Street Youth
Nettie Wild 2019 5 min
Street nurse Elaine Jones hands out coloured condoms and encourages a young woman to get a pregnancy test. Elaine also meets a 16-year-old, new to the city and shooting heroin for the first time, and works to connect her with services.

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Bevel Up: Chapter 6 - Lee
Nettie Wild 2019 3 min
Street nurses Caroline Brunt and Liz James inject Lee, a sex worker, with an antibiotic for syphilis. They also call Lee’s boyfriend and arrange to test him as well.

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Bevel Up: Chapter 3 - Linda
Nettie Wild 2019 1 min
Street Nurse Liz James tries to stop Linda, who’s high on drugs, from falling into traffic. Liz offers to help Linda get into an emergency shelter. Linda tells Liz to go away.

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Bevel Up: Chapter 7 - Long Tran
Nettie Wild 2019 2 min
Street nurse Caroline Brunt and health care worker Tuan Luu meet a Vietnamese man who, like his father and grandfather, shoots heroin. Caroline teaches him how to inject safely—with the “bevel up.”

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Bevel Up: Chapter 8 - Conclusion
Nettie Wild 2019 2 min
Street nurses Caroline Brunt and Liz James visit a recovering Becky and then head home.

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Cottonland
Nance Ackerman 2006 53 min
In this feature-length documentary, photographer Nance Ackerman describes the havoc prescription painkiller OxyContin wreaked in the already weakened Cape Breton town of Glace Bay. The film guides us through a culture of economic and social depression where we encounter men and women at different stages of dependency. Demystifying the world of the addict while showing us the complex social nexus that led to such despair, Cottonland emphasizes the importance of a collective approach to tackling addiction.
Crazywater

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Dennis Allen 2013 56 min
This feature-length documentary from Inuvialuit filmmaker Dennis Allen is an emotional and revealing exploration of addiction among Indigenous people in Canada.
After years of struggle and shame, 5 Indigenous Canadians bravely come forward with their stories of substance abuse, presenting the sensitive topic of alcoholism in an honest and forthright manner. Alex, Paula, Desirae, Stephen, and Dennis himself maintain a deep and devoted commitment to their traditional culture to achieve long-term sobriety. Through their voices, this insightful doc offers an inspirational beacon of hope for others.
Drug Addict

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Robert Anderson 1948 34 min
How drug traffic operates, how the drug addict is made, and how this grim social reality may be curbed. From the poppy blowing innocently in the wind to the relationship between addict and pusher, this film traces the strange progress of illicit narcotics. The story of a young first offender, who hears of the joys of addiction while in jail, shows how many people become chained to the habit, their only future a pattern of crime and jail. Different authorities offer different solutions to the complex drug problem--but all agree that for the sake of society, the problem must be solved.
East Side Showdown
Robin Benger 1999 46 min
This feature documentary is a portrait of the downtown Toronto neighbourhood of Dundas and Sherbourne, where the gap between rich and poor is growing wide. There, middle-class homeowners, angry radicals, desperate drug addicts and people simply looking for a place to lay their head are embattled in a bitter struggle for space. Angel, a prostitute and drug addict, dodges the law. Bed-and-breakfast owner Renée rails against the sex and drug trade. Community organizer John Clarke advocates direct action in defence of the poor. And at the eye of this storm is Reverend Jeannie Loughrey, whose drop-in centre provides much-needed help for the poor, yet homeowners accuse the centre of harbouring criminals and are lobbying to shut it down. Contains coarse language and scenes of drug use.
Exiles in Lotusland

Ilan Saragosti 2005 1 h 10 min
This feature documentary tells the story of 2 teens who head out west in search of self. Like a quarter of Vancouver’s itinerant youth population, Mélo and Ti-criss made the trip from Quebec, hopeful for a better life. Still minors, the pair seeks escape and adventure, perhaps the meaning of life. From east to west, from the streets to a hotel, with a welcome interlude in the country, they seek their place in society.
A Kind of Family

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Andrew Koster 1992 53 min
This feature documentary tells the complex and touching story of Winnipeg city councilor Glen Murray and his 17-year-old adopted son Mike, whose struggles with addiction and behavioural problems cyclically repeat. Glen, now an Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament, was one of the first openly gay elected politicians in Canada. He adopted Mike during an era when homophobic stereotypes often prevented gay men and women from adopting children. Glen and Mike's relationship is always tenuous and always turbulent as they struggle to define themselves together and alone.
Life on Victor Street
Kirby Hammond 2012 29 min
This short documentary depicts an Aboriginal Winnipeg teen’s struggle to stay in school and away from local gangs. Filmed over 2 years, the film is a moving portrait of one family trying to break the cycle of addiction, violence and poverty in an environment filled with anger and despair.
No Quick Fix

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Andrée Cazabon 2000 51 min
A revealing portrait of two young addicts, their life on the street and their despairing parents who find themselves powerless to save their children from the habit that is consuming them. As filmmaker Andrée Cazabon follows Cathy and Laurent for many months, recording their desperate drug-fuelled existence, she remembers her own life on the street. "My parents and I relived that horror," she says of her creative journey. But it was for all parents that she made this film. Cathy's and Laurent's parents live in a permanent state of bewildered anxiety and guilt. How can they avoid being totally destroyed by grief? How do they manage to carry on with their lives, in spite of everything? And how do they deal with a system that views them with suspicion? By grimly showing two children in the grip of a brutal addiction, No Quick Fix hopes to alleviate and identify some of the enormous pain endured by parents coping with an addicted child. In French with English subtitles.
Sober
Élise Simard 2017 33 s
SOBER IS HARDCORE. A rejection of romanticizing alcohol.
Profile of a Problem Drinker
Stanley Jackson 1957 29 min
This short film is a telling portrait of the discourse about and treatment of alcohol addiction in the middle of the 20th century. In a fictional setting, the film examines the insecurities and inner motivations that cause the protagonist to lean on alcohol. His job and home life are threatened by his addiction, and the doctor to whom he finally turns explains the medical and other resources available to him.
Poundmaker's Lodge: A Healing Place
Alanis Obomsawin 1987 29 min
Just north of the City of Edmonton lies Poundmaker’s Lodge, an addiction and mental-health facility specializing in treatment for Indigenous people. Founded in 1973 and still operational today, the Lodge’s programs and services are Indigenous-run and based in culturally appropriate recovery and healing techniques. Framing the short documentary with the words of the great Plains Cree Chief Pîhtokahanapiwiyin (Poundmaker), Alanis Obomsawin presents a frank examination of the root causes of substance abuse in Indigenous communities and how the absence of love and support – exacerbated by the impacts of colonialism and racism – created a legacy of alcoholism for some individuals.
Reflections on Practice: Therapeutic Communication
Nettie Wild 2007 1 min
Street nurse Liz James explains how to work with someone who’s in an unsafe situation but doesn’t want help.

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Reflections on Practice: From Novice to Expert
Nettie Wild 2007 5 min
Street nurses Caroline Brunt and Janine Stevenson, nursing ethicist Paddy Rodney, and nursing-practice consultant Mary Adlersberg talk about the importance of learning and legitimizing nursing harm-reduction practices.

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Reflections on Practice: Insights
Nettie Wild 2007 3 min
Street nurse Caroline Brunt talks about seeing past the drugs and connecting with the person. Street nurse Janine Stevenson reflects on coming from a place of curiosity rather than judgment.

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Reflections on Practice: Ethics & Practice
Nettie Wild 2007 4 min
Street nurse Caroline Brunt and nursing-practice consultant Mary Adlersberg reflect on nursing practice when working with people who carry and use illicit drugs. Nursing ethicist Paddy Rodney talks about respect for autonomy and power dynamics in the health-care relationship.

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Reflections on Practice: Supervised Injection
Nettie Wild 2007 1 min
Nursing-practice consultant Mary Adlersberg and nursing ethicist Paddy Rodney reflect on how the nurse incorporates teaching and health promotion while supporting safe injection.

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Reflections on Practice: Safety
Nettie Wild 2007 2 min
Street nurse Caroline Brunt and nursing-practice consultant Mary Adlersberg offer safety strategies for nurses working on the streets.

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Reflections on Practice: Dueling Agendas
Nettie Wild 2007 2 min
Street nurse Caroline Brunt talks about what happens when her health-care agenda clashes with the needs of the person she is caring for.

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Reflections on Practice: Harm Reduction
Nettie Wild 2007 3 min
Nurse Elaine Jones and ethicist Paddy Rodney talk about the ethical questions involved in showing youth how to safely inject.

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Reflections on Practice: Relationship Building
Nettie Wild 2007 1 min
Street nurse Janine Stevenson talks about how to show respect and build trust on the street.

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Reflections on Practice: Pregnant Users
Nettie Wild 2007 1 min
Street nurse Caroline Brunt reflects on the challenges she faces when working with pregnant women who use drugs, and the importance of not judging the mother.

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Reflections on Practice: Access to Health Care
Nettie Wild 2007 3 min
Street nurse Caroline Brunt talks about the important role friendly, low-barrier health services play in increasing the chances that people using drugs will access timely health care. Nurse ethicist Paddy Rodney analyzes the impact of health-care providers who direct anger towards people who use drugs.

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Reflections on Practice: Entrenchment
Nettie Wild 2007 1 min
Street nurse Elaine Jones reflects on the lure of the streets and why youth use drugs.

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Reflections on Practice: Therapeutic Communication
Nettie Wild 2007 1 min
Street nurse Caroline Brunt explains that listening is the first step in delivering effective health care to anyone who uses drugs.

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Reflections on Practice: Why Outreach?
Nettie Wild 2007 1 min
Street nurses Caroline Brunt and Liz James talk about how providing health care on the street is like throwing people a lifeline.

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Reflections on Practice: Boundaries
Nettie Wild 2007 2 min
Street nurse Janine Stevenson and nursing ethicist Paddy Rodney reflect on the complexities of boundaries when dealing with uncomfortable or unsafe situations.

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Reflections on Practice: People in Context
Nettie Wild 2007 1 min
Is the drug world scary? According to street nurse Caroline Brunt, understanding what drug(s) the person is using is important, but the ultimate goal is to connect, with the individuals using those drugs and providing the necessary health care that’s needed.

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Reflections on Practice: Sex Work & Health
Nettie Wild 2007 3 min
Street nurse Liz James reminds us that sex workers who use drugs are “just people” with stories and experiences like everyone else. Liz explains that the key to creating a safe and open health-care relationship is to be compassionate while still asking frank and direct questions.

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Reflections on Practice: Access to Health Care
Nettie Wild 2007 1 min
Street nurse Caroline Brunt explores how detox or a supervised-injection site provide realistic first steps towards better health care.

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The Sniffing Bear
Co Hoedeman 1992 7 min
This animated film uses the Arctic landscape and the traditional Inuit characters of the Bear, the Seal and the Owl to raise young people's awareness about the harmful effects of substance abuse. A polar bear experiences hallucinations after inhaling fumes from an abandoned gas can. A nearby owl and seal help to show the bear the error of his ways, thus preventing him from falling further into addiction. This film was an initiative of the Natives of the Institution La Macaza to warn children of the dangers of inhaling toxic chemicals.
Societies Under the Influence
Germán Gutiérrez 1998 52 min
Despite the overflowing prisons and billions of dollars spent by governments, drug trafficking is a bigger problem than ever. In an unending spiral, increasingly effective repression only makes drugs scarcer, thus driving up the cost, which in turn increases criminality and makes life less safe for ordinary citizens. After so many years of this war on drugs, many observers are calling for a cease-fire in the hope that legalizing drugs might be the solution.
Topics: Peers & Natural Helpers
Nettie Wild 2007 9 min
Natural helper Tina and peer outreach worker Earle Crow talk about how they bridge the gap between the street community and the nurses.

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Tu as crié LET ME GO
Anne Claire Poirier 1998 1 h 36 min
Filmmaker Anne Claire Poirier captures the most terrible tragedy a mother can imagine – her own daughter's addiction, prostitution, and eventual murder. Determined to use her talent as a filmmaker to find the strength and courage needed to go on, Poirier created a cinematic tour-de-force that delves into the lives of street people. She unearths her daughter's past in order to better understand why she, and other young people, risk their lives for the drugs they believe will set them free.
Through a Blue Lens
Veronica Alice Mannix 1999 52 min
This gripping documentary takes a powerful look at the lives of people with substance use disorder in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Filmmaker Veronica Alice Mannix follows Constable Al Arsenault and six other police officers on their daily beat, documenting their unique relationships with people who speak candidly about their painful past experiences, their drug addiction, and life on the street.
Topics: Prohibition
Nettie Wild 2007 7 min
Lawyer Eugene Oscapella and addictions counsellor Mark Hayden talk about the legal, social, and ethical dilemmas of bringing health care to people who use drugs and decriminalizing drugs to improve health.

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Topics: Street Drugs 101
Nettie Wild 2007 34 min
Street nurse Fiona Gold and experts from the streets outline the effects and characteristics of common street drugs and how they are used.

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Topics: Drugs & the Brain
Nettie Wild 2007 15 min
Dr. Anthony Phillips, a UBC neuroscientist, uses animation to describe the effects of crystal methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin on the brain.

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Topics: Pregnancy & Drugs
Nettie Wild 2007 7 min
Sarah Payne is the senior practice leader at the Fir Square Combined Care Unit with the BC Women’s Hospital. She describes an open-door harm-reduction philosophy where she and her colleagues advocate for providing support to keep mothers who use drugs and their babies together; she also discusses the effects of illicit drugs on babies.

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Topics: Sex, Drugs & Gender
Nettie Wild 2007 9 min
Street nurse Paul Harris (Gay Outreach) and Sean, a transgender person who uses drugs, both reflect on the role that drugs play in the LGBT community.

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Topics: Nurses Who Use Drugs
Nettie Wild 2007 4 min
Nursing-practice consultant Mary Adlersberg addresses addiction, intervention, and recovery within the nursing profession.

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Topics: Aboriginals & Drugs
Nettie Wild 2007 6 min
Chee Mamuk Program Manager Lucy Barney explains her theory of THE BRAID — how First Nations weave together culture and health to deal with drug use in their communities. She talks about why many First Nations people who use drugs do not access mainstream clinics.

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Topics: Mental Health & Drugs
Nettie Wild 2007 7 min
Mental-health counsellor Andrew Larcombe talks about the impact of post-traumatic stress disorder and using drugs to escape from difficult life circumstances. He also describes skills and strategies for developing therapeutic relationships and boundaries.

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Topics: Hospitals & Acute Care
Nettie Wild 2007 9 min
Emergency room nurse Jane McColl and ward nurse Joanne Simpson talk about how drugs are perceived by people who use them as a solution. The nurses also address the importance of practicing harm-reduction philosophy and approaches when providing care and services within an institution.

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Topics: Sex Work & Drugs
Nettie Wild 2007 10 min
Four sex workers—Sherri, Tina, Dee and Mum—explain the relationship between sex and drugs, revealing how it affects their health and can threaten their lives.

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Topics: Street Nurses For Change
Nettie Wild 2007 6 min
What happens when advocating for best health-care practices is politically inconvenient? Street nurse Liz James talks about her role in Canada’s first underground needle exchange, and street nurse Fiona Gold describes how she supported North America’s first supervised-injection site; both nurses took risks, fought for change, and saved lives.

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Topics: Beyond the City
Nettie Wild 2007 10 min
Community health nurse Wendy Bradley (Yukon) and nurse educator Gayle Carriere (BC Interior Health Authority) describe drug use in rural areas and how they deal with the challenges of working in isolation and confronting stigma.

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Who Cares
Rosie Dransfeld 2012 1 h 19 min
In this cinema vérité documentary, director Rosie Dransfeld captures the gritty and dangerous world of Edmonton's sex trade workers where, in a post-Pickton era, women now voluntarily provide police with DNA samples for future postmortem identification.

Substance Abuse (63)

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