New HBO Documentary Examines Cape Cod Heroin Crisis

HBO is homing in on Massachusetts’ opioid epidemic with a new documentary examining the Cape Cod heroin crisis. The film, Heroin: Cape Cod, USA, tracks the lives of eight 20-something heroin users, several of whom were prescribed addictive pain medications and became increasingly dependent until they progressed toward injection drug use.

A teaser for the film indicates that it will be a gritty portrayal of addiction, complete with shots of people slipping needles into their neck and tying off their forearms before shooting up. At least one of the film’s subjects, a 23-year-old mother, fatally overdosed.

An announcement from HBO notes:

Falmouth, Mass. is a typical community in a state that has lately seen an average of nearly four heroin deaths per day. The individuals spotlighted in HEROIN: CAPE COD, USA, all of whom live in the area, talk candidly about their heroin habit and their community, where, according to one of them, “either you work or you do drugs.”

…

Heroin: Cape Cod, USA visits the Parents Supporting Parents Group of Cape Cod, where parents describe raising their kids in happy homes, only to see everything change when their sons and daughters started abusing pain medication. Receiving invaluable support from other parents in the same situation, they share feelings of co-dependency and discuss the financial burden of having a child cycling in and out of detox

Last year more than 1,200 people in Massachusetts fatally overdosed.

The documentary, directed by academy award winner Steven Okazaki, debuts on December 28 on HBO.