Montana Rx: Unintended Consequences

28:17

Published:

Rating: TV-G

A journey into the state’s struggle with tackling the prescription drug abuse epidemic.

Unintended Consequences takes you on a journey into the state’s struggle with tackling the prescription drug abuse epidemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Montana issued 82 painkiller prescriptions per 100 people in 2012. Join University of Montana journalism students as they explore Montana’s efforts to combat the epidemic in the most rural areas to the largest city in the state.

Travel to Browning, where a grandmother deals with her family’s addictions, and Billings, where a college student’s past tragedy fuels his activism. Along the way, people across Montana will show the unintended consequences of Rx addiction and the never-ending fight to stay sober.

Meet Montana’s specialists on the front line of the battle, who realize they must work together in order to progress towards a solution. They’ll show you what’s working and what’s not in Montana to curb Rx addiction.

Montana Rx: Unintended Consequences

Glenda Comes at Night, 57, is a licensed addictions counselor at Crystal Creek Lodge in Browning, Montana. She was prescribed pain medication consistently for over a year for a gall bladder issue, and she says her doctors never once warned her about the addictive nature of the drugs. Glenda Comes at Night, 57, is a licensed addictions counselor at Crystal Creek Lodge in Browning, Montana.

Credit: Josh Geiger

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Glenda Comes at Night, 57, is a licensed addictions counselor at Crystal Creek Lodge in Browning, Montana.

Zach Shopp, 23, ponders as he thinks back on his rollercoaster of emotions within the last year of his hectic life. In Billings, his schedule includes school, work, and helping combat Montana's opioid epidemic.

Credit: Mason Birgenheier

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Zach Shopp, 23, ponders as he thinks back on his rollercoaster of emotions within the last year of his hectic life.