DOCUMENTARY MEANT TO SPARK DIALOGUE ON SUBSTANCE ABUSE

The setting will be familiar, but what happens there may shock you.

Premiering tonight, a new documentary about substance abuse promises a
closeup look at a broad social problem, following a Regina family as
they deal with intravenous drug addiction.

"The viewer will be seeing a different side of Regina," said Gerry
Sperling, the program's producer. "I mean, we know that there's drugs
and stuff here, but we think the worst of that kind of thing is
happening in East Hastings in Vancouver, right? Like this is a
wonderful little happy, prosperous Prairie city, but in fact there are
these terrifying things happening here."

Under the Skin: Drugs, Dreams and Demons will be shown for the first time
tonight at 9 p.m. on SCN. Produced by 4 Square Productions and directed by
Jayden Soroka and Bill Siggins, the documentary wraps up a series of
programs about issues of public concern in Saskatchewan.

SCN president and CEO Ken Alecxe said Under the Skin was a good fit
for the network's Straight Talk series, because it brings the global
crisis of drug addiction home.

"We're regional storytellers, and some of these stories are tough
stories," he said. "But they're stories we learn from, and we found it
important that young people begin to talk about these things in
Saskatchewan."

Filmed over the course of three years, the documentary looks at the
drug trade in Regina from the perspective of three drug addicts and a
drug dealer. The result is a gritty look at life in Regina's
north-central neighbourhood and the trade of Talwin and Ritalin, an
illicit drug known sometimes as the 'poor man's heroin.'

Sperling said he hopes the piece will make viewers "confront the
reality of this city," and think about whether society is doing enough
to confront the issue of drug addiction.

"It raises more questions," he said. "We're not preachers to be going
out and telling people what they should do about it, but it will raise
some questions."

The program looks particularly at the inter-generational effects of
substance abuse, by focusing on one family's attempt to break out of a
long cycle of addiction.

Alecxe said he hopes the documentary will spark discussion about
substance abuse, and maybe lead some viewers to look at how those
issues affect their own family.

"There's no easy answers, but what we can do is start talking about
it," he said. "It's all about the dialogue."