SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Louisiana families are opening up about some of their darkest times in a new documentary about the opioid epidemic. The Louisiana Supreme Court Family created the Opioid Crisis Documentary in Need of Services Assistance Program (FINS) and aims to shine a light on the addiction crisis that many Louisiana families are shamefully suffering through. The October release of the doc is by design, as the month highlights National Youth Substance Use Prevention Month and Substance Misuse Prevention Month. The aptly named film has a run time of just shy of 45 minutes. It is filled with emotional recounts from family members who lost loved ones who struggled with addiction, whether they were killed in a drug-related slaying like Dr. Dan Schneider, who was at the forefront of the opioid crisis in south Louisiana after his son's drug-related murder as explained in Netflix’s “The Pharmacist,” or Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice John L. Weimer whose younger brother acted on suicidal ideations that increased during his dependency on opioids. Watch Human Trafficking in Our Community Many of the addiction origin stories are similar. Debilitating physical pain caused by accident coupled with some level of emotional sadness and prescription drugs that somehow spiral into illegal activity fueled by a vic to "feel normal." According to Centers For Disease Control data provided in the film, 70,601 people died from opioid overdose in the U.S. in 2021, a figure that is 25 percent higher than in 2020 and doubles the number of overdose deaths in 2019. An alarming state stat provided by the Louisiana Department of Health revealed that from 2014 to 2021, opioid-involved deaths increased by 432 percent in the state. Chief Justice Weimer, while expressing the pain of his brother's choices, sympathized with families whose losses he has a unique understanding of. "And so my heart goes out to those families and those individuals who find themselves in the grips of this terrible addiction. My brother fought it for years, and finally, he simply decided that life was not worth living," Weimer said. The last couple of minutes of the film are reserved for information on state resources to help those seeking addiction treatment. FINS-AP Region 6 encompasses Caddo, Bienville, Claiborne, Webster, DeSoto, Red River, Bossier, Jackson, Lincoln, and Union Parishes. Watch The Opioid Crisis Documentary on the Louisiana Supreme Court website. Latest News Florida mailman stabs lawncare worker over parking: deputies West Feliciana Parish sees big economic boost from visitor spending in 2023 TV host Adam Richman says production crew robbed while filming in North London 'The Opioid Crisis' highlights addiction, overdose deaths in Louisiana Disney World raises prices on annual passes