That looks like a piece of dope right there, actually. Hmm.
My name's Gregory and I'm 31,
and I'm addicted to fentanyl.
No, no. Yep, it was.
So life feels like you're getting pinched. And when you do fentanyl,
it feels like no one's pinching you.
It is such a relief from day-to-day struggles.
- I just fear for the fentanyl that he's smokin'.
He claimed his tolerance is too high to die.
That (bleep) can always get ya.
- I'm very worried about my brother.
He's, like, sketched out all the time and always, like,
uncomfortable or looking for his next hit.
He says he's never been an injector.
Never been a needle user. But obviously, that's (bleep).
(Sam): I'm terrified for his life.
- Unfortunately, having to do drugs right now is kind of like breathing.
I just have to do it to survive.
- Okay, ladies and gentlemen, we have Greg up here. Give him a big welcome.
♪ There's a place I wanna go
♪ It's in my mind I'm happiest in life when I'm on stage.
It feels like I'm on a different planet. It's like... it's a total high.
♪ I take a red-eye midnight flight and drive... ♪
I love it when people listen to my music and...
get enjoyment and happiness.
♪ I will hitch up right outta this town ♪
♪ I've been too high I've been too down ♪ (man): Whoo!
♪ Catch me
♪ Sleeping under the stars
- He's very talented.
Like, ridiculously talented.
- I'm envious of him, because he can sing his heart out.
♪ Drive till morning light
♪ Till you can feel my pain
I hope one day I can actually get all my songs together,
and get them, like, you know, full band behind them.
I bet you they would sound really good.
♪ Baby I'm a runaway ♪
(crowd cheering)
- Thank you very much, guys. (MC): Let's hear it for Greg. (cheering)
- Before I die, I have to release an album.
That's my dream. (cheering and applause)
I (bleep) them up real good, eh?
- He's musically talented. Like, he really is. But...
he never thinks he's good enough for himself; no confidence whatsoever.
- Okay. - Love you. - I love you, too.
I'll see you tomorrow. Oh, dude.
Sensitive nipples!
(laughing) - Sorry. - It's okay.
- Love you. - Love you, too. - Bye.
- Any chance you can do a point of down and a bit of side for 20 bucks?
Oh, my god.
I've just been doing fentanyl straight and it doesn't last as long.
So the blue is the fentanyl,
and the white stuff is the meth.
Meth gives your fentanyl... They call it legs. It makes it lasts longer.
- I've been watching him deteriorate on the streets,
sleeping under bridges and... stealing food, you know.
My teeth got really bad. And, obviously, when you...
smoke drugs and stuff like that, um, it wears them down.
I had to have them removed.
Yeah, whoa.
Sorry. I just gotta deal with my pants. They keep (bleep) falling down.
How did it come this far that, like,
my (bleep) brother is homeless?
- It does start getting kind of crazy out here, so, uh...
I always like to make sure I, uh, have something to protect myself with.
I've had knives pulled on me, I've had a gun pulled on me.
Like, you can't be scared when that (bleep) happens. You have to put on a facade.
Why you throwing us the middle finger, man? Go (bleep) yourself.
But inside, I'm (bleep) terrified.
- I know there's some violence and stuff going on downtown Victoria,
targeting the homeless.
But he's gotta get off the streets, man. The streets is (bleep).
- Right now, he's just surviving. Um...
my biggest fear is that...
he never actually gets the chance to... to live.
- It was a horrible labour with Greg.
He was this squalling, long baby,
it seemed like.
His dad was all excited to have a son, and once he could start walking,
he'd be following his dad around, wanting to do what Dad did.
He was this blond...
...wild, rambunctious...
Oh, man, he was a little brother. He drove me nuts.
His ability to just, like, make you laugh and, like,
make you just feel happy...
I mean, we were thick as thieves.
We used to play toys together; we would have, like,
these ultimate battles.
But not battles against each other,
but battles against everything else.
Dad and Mom, we would hear them fighting all the time.
- Their dad was an alcoholic. He would be Mr. Happy to start with,
and then it would be like somebody flicked a light switch,
and he would just snap.
I had gone out Christmas shopping with the kids, got home, and...
Forrest was drunker than a skunk.
And he was hanging out of our bedroom window, screaming at me.
We got in the house, and the next thing I knew,
he had his arm like that across my throat.
- I can still hear Mom screaming.
I can still hear her saying, "Forrest, don't. Don't."
(Sherry): I got away. I phoned the cops.
- Greg was looking up at me.
And I'm just holding him and, like, covering his eyes.
- I just remember feeling really scared.
Mom was yelling and everyone was crying,
and I just didn't really know what was going on; I just knew that it was bad.
- When we split up, I worked graveyard shift at the post office.
There was more than one time when the power went out at our house.
And the stereotypical single mom who couldn't make ends meet.
- Dad, he was an alcoholic,
he suffered from his own child... trauma.
But he was a good dad when he had to be.
Like, Dad would always take us, um, camping.
We'd have our bikes, we'd go fishing...
We had so much fun.
- The only reason we were "camping,"
um, it was because my dad didn't have a place to live.
- Dad lived at the campsite, but we didn't know that.
- Basically, we were also homeless with my dad. (chuckling)
(Kaitlin): Those were some of the best memories with Dad, when he was homeless,
and we got to go camping.
- He had a lot of demons,
but he loved his children more than anything in the entire world.
- I've been best friends with Greg since I was six years old.
We met in elementary school, but when we started hanging out was high school.
Greg was Mr. Popular, one of the kings of high school for sure.
Helluva basketball player and a team MVP, league MVP, and he put on a show.
Everyone would be up on their feet. It was cool.
- He was a killer basketball player.
Like, if you talked basketball, Greg's name was involved.
Well, he was just so good.
That had always been Greg's dream, was to play ball.
Watching him get the city record for the most points,
that was a proud memory.
(Sam): Dad was 6'9". So he was supposed to be a basketball star, as well.
So Greg almost felt like he had to fall into that legacy.
He had so much pressure put onto him.
Constructive criticism really bothered him.
He always felt like he was never good enough.
- I played it too much and I just lost the love for it.
It felt like a job.
- Once he graduated, he didn't want to play ball anymore.
Him and his dad kind of got close again. They could go drinking together.
♪ That's why I'm coming back home ♪
♪ When the sun shines
- He's a fantastic musician. Greg's a brilliant songwriter,
so he pumped out the tunes and I threw some drums to 'em, and we played a couple shows.
He also liked to party.
- First time I met Greg, 12 years ago,
on a beach, after a party night.
A very sweet, outgoing guy. Super friendly.
Just something about him. He just had this sparkle.
You know, we were young, we all partied together,
and he never really seemed to... to stop.
(Sam): My dad and my brother, they would get hammered drunk together.
It wasn't a father/son relationship.
It was "two buddies hanging out" kind of relationship.
- Forrest was already so deep down on that road that he didn't...
maybe realize the damage that would be started with that.
- He didn't say, "Hey, you wanna smoke some crack?" I said I wanted to do coke,
and I'd never done crack before and I was really drunk,
so we did it together, which was, you know...
Probably shouldn't have done that. (chuckling)
(Sherry): He had been so drunk...
that he had fallen into a glass hutch.
And when he pulled his arm back out,
he slit the artery that goes under here and bled out.
(Kaitlin): It was really hard on all of us when Dad passed.
Greg took it the hardest.
- Once Dad died,
it kind of all just went like...
spiralled downhill from then.
He couldn't find a steady job, he would jump from this place to that place.
He just started to get more into the heavier drugs.
One day, at my mom's,
Greg was, like, strung out.
He was being a complete piece of (bleep),
and Greg grabbed me by the neck.
And I looked at him, I was, like: "You (bleep) do it." And he let his hand go.
That was the moment that I knew that I lost my brother.
- As a parent,
you pray for the best.
You hope: I never get that phone call.
- I miss my brother, I miss who my brother...
who my brother is... deep down,
'cause I know he is not a bad person.
(Sherry): Sometimes I wish that phone call would come.
Because then maybe Greg wouldn't be suffering anymore.
- Brrr. (Bleep) it's cold.
- He grew up here in Victoria,
and he sees people every day that know him.
Working their nine-to-five jobs and them looking at him,
knowing exactly who he is, but turning an eye.
(Nick): People can see him. They come up to me, ask me, "How's he doin'?
I saw him on the streets." I try to lie all the time.
I would just tell them he's doing alright.
I wouldn't give 'em a real update.
- I do want to believe that Greg can get better,
but he's had other opportunities.
If Greg doesn't get help, he's gonna die.
- Has anybody been around today, man? (Bleep.)
- Nope. - I'm starting to get dope-sick.
(horn honking)
- Hi. - What are you doin' down here?
- I had to come meet a client. - Oh. Well, you knew where to find me.
- I've only got 20 minutes. It's all I could find for parking.
- You get a haircut? - Yes, I did.
- It looks good. - Thank you.
- The relationship between Mom and Greg is toxic.
- Did you get my text? - You want 20 bucks.
- If you got it. If you don't, don't sweat it. - I'll give you $20.
I give him money when I can.
Thank you.
- It's a hard line to walk...
...between loving and helping...
and enabling.
- She wants to protect him, but he's 32 years old. Time to cut the cord, lady.
- Alright. I'm right here. - Okay, I'll talk to you later. I love you.
- I love you, too. (both): Bye.
- I need to get a point.
- Okay, so just be careful, basically? Thanks for the heads-up.
Okay.
- Making me not feel too good.
Whoop. Ah, man.
(groaning)
That's why I'm getting this thing ready, just in case I go "pfft." Right?
(grunting)
- Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice-message system.
- Goes straight to his voicemail.
I (bleep) hate when he does this (bleep). It's so annoying.
I'm looking for my little brother, Greg.
- Yeah, I know him. - Yeah? Have you seen him today?
- Didn't see him today, though. - Oh, (bleep).
Bringing Jacob into all this...
I did not take... with a light heart.
Stay here.
Hey, quick question for you. Looking for my little brother, Greg.
If I'm open and honest with my son about this,
then... I feel like I have...
set him up for success,
and not the same path that my father and my brother have gone down.
- Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice-message..
No bueno? No good? - No bueno.
(Jacob): It's kinda scary, not knowing where he is. What if he got, like, arrested?
- Yeah, we should phone the non-emergency, just put out a watch for him.
- Yeah, we could. I'll look it up.
- Greg put me down as his emergency contact for a long time.
I've had a lot of calls from the hospital about:
"You need to come get him. He's had an overdose,"
or they found him in the bush or he's unconscious or whatever.
- You guys seen Greg kicking around today?
- One time in a restaurant, he overdosed on heroin.
He told me he wasn't high, but I could obviously tell he was high.
He was sweatin' and pantin' and... in front of people,
and I was there and I had to pull his tongue out and flip him over,
and that was a (bleep) scene.
- So we're looking for Greg right now. Any idea where he might be?
- He's come so close to death so many times.
I don't want to have to go to his funeral.
- I can't find him.
- Gregory! Yo! - Yeah. - Greg.
- Who's that? Is it my sister? Hi.
- I thought we were gonna have a sleepover.
- Dropped my phone in the water, tripped...
and it (bleep) bounced off a rock and boop.
So it's FUBAR'ed.
- You want to come to my place and sober up for the night, then?
- Yep.
Is, uh, Jakey-poo up? - I would imagine.
Oh, my god. Look how big you are.
(patting) You look good, buddy.
- When he's sober,
he's pretty fun.
He's caring and he doesn't... He's kind of protective,
almost like a father figure.
I want him to be better.
I want to see him more.
- You need to have a shower, 'cause you stink.
- Kay, you're over-exaggerating. I don't stink.
Like, smell me.
- No, you do. (laughter)
- Jake, take a whiff.
- Yo. - Hey.
- Rise and shine. - Yeah. Did you get my clothes cleaned?
- Yeah. - Okay, sweet. Where are they? - Uh, they're drying still.
They're damp. (Greg sighing)
"Hey, Kay, thanks for doing my laundry."
- You didn't finish my laundry, though. - Okay.
- Thanks, Kay. Thanks for 70% of my laundry done.
- Must be (bleep) nice to have a (bleep) maid, hey?
We might see if we can rent a boat today and take Dad's ashes out.
Would you be down? - Well, obviously.
- We can take it to Trial Island 'cause he spent a lot of time out there.
- That would be really nice.
- Oh, you're doing this already? I was gonna do it out there.
- What? Dad was always drunk when he got on the boat. (laughter)
- Not always. (indistinct chatter) - My dad was...
He was the coolest guy on the planet and, you know...
When he wasn't suffering or drunk or high or something like that.
I never didn't feel loved with him.
Even though I wouldn't see him for long periods of time.
I wish he was able to battle his demons a little better, but...
I understand why...
...he chose the booze instead of his family.
It's not that he didn't love his children. He loved all of his children very much.
(sniffling) (indistinct chatter)
But I'm mad at him for not being around and...
for bringing me into this life and abandoning me, I guess.
We could've had so much more time together.
- Love you, Daddy.
(Greg): You ready? All put your hands on him.
(crying)
- We need to be together as a family right now, so what are we going to go get?
- Oh.
(Greg): If you wanna sit here for a couple minutes.
- I'm not giving you cash. I have $33 gift card to--
- Okay, I don't wanna hang out anymore, then.
- You don't wanna hang out 'cause I'm not-- - No, I gotta figure this out.
- Where's the (beep)? - It's up there. Why would we-- - Just listen!
- It's not a good idea. You don't know what you're doing.
- What's my story, then? What am I gonna tell you? (indistinct chatter)
- You go down to (beep),
you buy something for, like, $3, and then you get cash back: $20.
- They don't cash back on gift cards. It says it on the card.
- Where?
Fine. You're right. But still, it was a good idea.
- Yeah. I'm right, so don't question me. - Holy. Chill the (bleep) out.
Don't (bleep) talk to me like this.
- Don't talk to me-- - (Bleep) you.
I'm trying to help you on your (bleep).
- No, it's fine. - Obviously you don't want it that bad, then.
- Get out, then. Go. Figure your (bleep) out. Go.
- Okay, whatever.
Hey, man, you got down on you?
- I've got a $33 gift card. Wanna give me a couple puffs for it?
- You can call and ask, but...
- Yeah. Let's go into the cubby.
Sorry. I'm just in a bad mood. I just had to dump my dad's ashes out,
so I'm pretty (bleep) pissed off right now.
(exclaiming and coughing) Damn, that's good, dude.
- Thank you. I know.
This has kind of been our entire life.
We're trapped in this vortex
of addiction and toxicity all the time.
(Greg grunting) (indistinct chatter) - Good to see you, man.
- How you doin'? - The (bleep) you been? - Nowhere.
- I've definitely gone through a lot of emotion
with all this (bleep).
Anger, some sadness for sure.
Sick and tired of this... (bleep) he's going through.
- Can you open the door, please? - No. I'm changing.
- I think all of us, we're just done dealing with all the trauma and hurt,
and everything else that comes with addiction, so... enough is enough.
Greg. - What?
I'm not doing this anymore.
Greg needs our help. It's just a repeated cycle that...
needs to end.
- You got any down?
- It's not just hurting him, it does hurt all of us.
We need to stick together.
- You guys don't have any dope on you right now, do ya? - Uh, a bit of down.
- My buddy and I are (bleep) kind of dope-sick.
- Absolutely. - Thank you so much.
- I know that he's in pain,
but you can't change somebody.
They have to want the change for themselves.
(background chatter) What Greg will do? Who knows?
- Thank God. - I feel alive!
- Good morning, everybody.
(all): Good morning. - Morning. Thanks for being here.
My name is Geri Bemister. I'm an interventionist and...
an addictions therapist.
An intervention is an act of love.
If somebody feels loved, they will always say yes.
We are not trying to force Greg to go anywhere.
We want him to make the choice.
So our job is to light that pathway.
So first, I want to do a check-in with everybody.
Sam, you want to go first?
- I miss my brother. I miss my best friend.
It's like when Greg gets into his happy place
is when he has his guitar in his hand and he's playing.
That's the brother that I love.
That's the man that...
...I want my daughter to grow up and look up to.
But if he doesn't get this help, then...
...she will never know who he is.
She deserves better.
- Cassidy?
- It hurts me, seeing the people that I love hurt.
And, like, what it's done to the family.
It's hard. Because he does have so many people that love and care for him.
- It's good that you've stood by him all this time.
- I do it for them. (laugh-crying)
- Nick, let's hear from you.
- The years of... anger and...
and, um, being upset at him for his choices he's made,
that's... that's all in the past.
- Have you set some boundaries with him already?
- Yeah, you know, throughout the years,
he's stayed at my place and I've helped him out financially and whatever,
and I tried to do everything in my power to help him; he's gotta help himself, too.
But we gotta get him off those streets.
It's a nasty world out there and I don't want to go to his funeral ever.
- I spoke with Sherry yesterday and I said the three Cs. Do you remember what they are?
I didn't cause it.
I can't cure it.
And I can't control it.
Right? Very important to remember about addiction.
Because that's where enabling comes in.
You know, 10 or 20 bucks, people lending him money here and there.
But all that stops today. Because the next dose can be the fatal dose.
Mom, you're the matriarch of the family. (Sherry chuckling)
- Who is struggling desperately right now.
- Yesterday, we talked about you always putting the kids first.
- Mm-hmm. - And yet today...
...it was still a struggle for you to show up.
- Yes, it was.
- What does that tell yourself?
- That I'm still not where I need to be. - Yeah.
And you're not where you need to be for them.
- I cried the entire way here, because, um...
you weren't... you weren't coming at first.
- What about me? (sniffling)
Am I not good enough? Am I not special?
Do I need to become a drug addict so you'll pay attention to me?
- Unless...
you can truly let go,
you run the risk of losing these girls.
- It's not... it's not running the risk. She will.
She'll lose me.
- I have felt like I'm being...
pulled apart.
- I'm sorry that I'm pulling. I'm trying to break this cycle,
because I'm... I'm dead-(bleep)-set.
- It's when he starts feeling better and says, "Mom, this place sucks."
This, this, that. "I want to come home. Come and get me."
- He can't come home. - The amount of times you say, "I'm cutting Greg off,
I'm cutting Greg off, I'm cutting Greg off..."
- And haven't done it. - Yeah. - I know.
- He's gonna see right through you. Addicts are intuitive,
and they'll see right through the (bleep).
- I try really, really hard to get past that stage.
And...
I feel like I'm shutting down.
(sniffling) (Geri): You're doing great. - I'm sorry.
- Morning, everybody. (all): Good morning.
- Let's everybody take a deep breath.
Remember, the intervention is the act of love.
If Greg feels loved when he comes into this room today,
he's going to take the choice to save his own life.
- How are you? - My name's Geri. - Nice to meet you, Geri.
- Come on in! - Yeah.
- I got your fam here and they want to have a chat with you.
- I'm just gonna have a quick cigarette first. - Okay.
- Greg, they just want to talk to you for a few minutes, bud.
(whispering)
- What is this?
- Yeah, what the (bleep) is this?
- Hey, Greg? - Excuse me. We're having a one-on-one conversation here.
- Hold on here. - Okay.
- We're trying to save your life.
(indistinct chatter)
- Is this gonna piss me off? - No.
- You promise on our friendship-- - Yes, I promise you.
- --this will not piss me off. - No, it won't piss you off. I promise you.
Okay? Dude. - Dude, 'cause I swear to God, I will walk out.
- You're not gonna get pissed off, okay? I just want you to listen. Okay?
- Remember what I said.
(Geri): So I got you sittin' beside Sam, if that's cool.
- I'll sit with my mom. - Okay. Sit beside Mom? Yeah.
We're gonna go around and everybody's just kinda gonna have a few words to say to you.
- Okay. - Cassidy, go ahead.
- "Greg, I love you and I miss the happy-go-lucky Greg.
I fear that if you continue down this road,
you will lose absolutely everything.
You have so much life to live, and we need you here, Greg.
And if you don't accept this help,
I will no longer be able to have you in my life." (sniffling)
(Geri): I know that was hard. Go ahead, Sam.
- "Brother bear, you know I love you with all my heart.
I miss the days when we would hang out, laugh our asses off,
spend some one-on-one time without you looking for your next fix.
The days when I was proud to call you my brother.
We already lost our dad.
I don't think I could recover from losing you.
Greg, please accept this amazing opportunity.
Not for me, but for your precious niece.
And if you don't accept this help,
Sequoia will no longer be a part of your life."
- "Greg, I love you more than words could ever express.
I am in constant fear that your lifestyle will eventually catch up to you
and I will lose you.
The opportunity for you to start living your life
to its fullest potential is here now.
If you do not accept this offer,
I have to remove myself...
and my children from your life.
I love you and I know that today will be the day
you get your chance to show me you are the man you were always meant to be:
my protector, my hero."
- A lot of love from this family for you, Greg. Lots of love, Greg.
Okay, Nick.
- "Our brother Greg, we've been friends a long time.
We've had each other's backs a long time.
Seeing you on the streets living such a life is heartbreaking.
I know there's a whole new life waiting for you in the near future.
I hope you can accept the help and get your life back on track. We love you, brother.
And I need you to know that if you say no to this opportunity,
then you're losing all the support in the world.
You need to know that."
- Mm-hmm. (Geri): Mom.
You're doing great, Greg.
This can't be easy to hear.
- "Dear Greg,
know that as I am reading this to you,
I am sending you all the love that I have for you.
I need you to live.
But I can no longer be sending you any money.
If I were to continue doing this,
it's only going to kill both of us.
I will always love you, Greg.
Now... tomorrow, next week...
and forever.
So I hope you will take this help."
- We'll drive to a place in Kelowna
called Options Addiction Family Wellness.
It is one of the best treatment centres in North America.
It also has a family program attached to it.
We will do a structured detox plan,
and it's already been all set up.
We'll travel to get there this evening.
So will you go to treatment today?
I, too, once was you.
On the streets, heavily addicted.
And somebody did this for my family.
- I have two options. (sniffling)
Um...
...to continue suffering or find a way to get the help.
I have to be straight-up honest with you. (sniffling)
I can't die before I release an album. (laughter)
Can't do it.
Of course, I will accept that.
(Geri): That's great.
I can't lose you.
- You won't lose me, Greg.
(Sherry sniffling)
- I love you, buddy. Thanks.
(crying)
- This is the end of the journey.
- Love you. - I love you, too.
- Love you, Kaitlin. Love you.
- I'm really, really proud of you, man. Really proud of you.
- Bye. - Love you.
- Kill it, okay?
(all): Love you! Love you!
- Bye.
(all): Bye!
(sighing) ♪ Rivers run
♪ But they stay in one place
♪ You've been running but you can't escape ♪
(soft music)
- Welcome, you guys.
(Geri): Hi. - Greg. - Yeah.
(Greg): When I first showed up here at Options, I was broken.
I came in with, like... very little hope.
- When Greg first arrived in our centre, he was quite angry.
Greg had very much a street mentality, where it was:
You gotta be the toughest guy out there.
And so I think that's probably the biggest change that we've seen in him,
is he's become a very gentle human being.
- I've learned to just...
step back and take a breath when I'm angry,
and don't let my emotions control me.
I was letting Greg the Boy dictate my life.
Now I'm fixing that and letting Greg the Man grow.
So, yes, now I can look at myself in the mirror and be, like...
I like... I'm starting to like this guy. Yeah.
- Hi! - Hey.
- Life has been a lot easier since Greg's been here.
I can actually breathe again.
It's like I can... "Hey, where's Greg?"
(exhaling) I know where he is, and he's okay.
I want to say the old Greg is back, but it's not.
It's like a new, reinvented Greg.
His whole demeanour and his whole vibe,
and the way he carries himself is so different.
- Hi! - Hey.
- Look at you, you handsome devil.
(Greg): Just can't wait to spend more time with my niece and nephews.
I missed out on a lot of years of watching them grow up.
Maybe one day I can give them some cousins. (laughing)
(Susie): I see Greg's future as being very bright.
He can do anything he wants with his recovery,
and I know the sky's the limit for Greg, I really do.
♪ Think about you all the time... ♪
My dream, since I've picked up the guitar,
is to be a professional musician.
If somebody can listen to my music and feel a connection,
or feel a little less alone,
then that's great.
But for right now, my sobriety and my recovery has to come first.
Gotta just worry about living in today. Right?
That's kinda number 1.
♪ Just like a hill you have to climb ♪
♪ Oh...
♪ Just like the fear you left behind ♪
♪ Oh...
♪ I'm on my way I'm here to stay ♪
♪ I'll try not to mess it up ♪ Oh...
♪ I need to bother everyone
♪ I'll find the strength to say My time is right and my day has come ♪
♪ There's so much time to get things wrong ♪
♪ So I'm gonna be
♪ I'm gonna be the lucky one
♪ Yeah I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the lucky one ♪
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