Free film screening in Olympia on Monday features a community fighting the overdose crisis

Fentanyl deaths have surged in much of the U.S. and Washington state is no exception.

The death rate from synthetic opioids — the category that mainly consists of fentanyl — in the state had risen to 23.6 per 100,000 residents by 2022, according to the University of Washington’s Addiction, Drugs & Alcohol Institute. That figure was over 12 times higher than it had been just five years earlier. It made up 89.7% of the opioid deaths in the state that year and 65% of all drug-caused deaths.

If you’re interested in how the fentanyl crisis is being approached by another community in the Pacific Northwest, a documentary screening on Monday at Olympia’s Timberland Library will be free and open to the public.

“Love in the Time of Fentanyl” takes an up-close look at a renegade, supervised drug consumption site working amid the fentanyl crisis to give hope to a marginalized community ravaged by the overdose crisis. The site, located in downtown Vancouver, B.C., also employs current and former drug users.

If you can’t make it to the screening, it can also be streamed on PBS.

The film is being presented by volunteers from the Emma Goldman Youth & Homeless Outreach Project (EGYHOP), a project of the Olympia Harm Reduction Network. The screening will be followed by a discussion on local response to the fentanyl crisis as well as overdose reversal training.

Where: Olympia Timberland Library, 313 Eighth Ave. SE

When: Monday, Feb. 26, from 4-6 p.m.

Length: The film has a runtime of about 1.5 hours.

Cost: Free

Notes: Please wear a mask, per organizer request.

This story was originally published February 24, 2024 at 5:00 AM.