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(Laura Newberry)
U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal will host a free screening of the HBO documentary "Heroin: Cape Cod, USA" at Springfield's Basketball Hall of Fame Thursday.
The film will be shown after comments from local officials, including Hampden County Sheriff Michael J. Ashe, Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni.
Lise King, the movie's producer, is also expected to speak.
The event begins at 5 p.m. in the hall's theater, according to James Leydon, director of public and media information for Gulluni's office. It is open to the public.
The 76-minute film, which first aired on Dec. 28, follows the lives of eight Falmouth heroin users in their early 20s. Some ultimately died of overdoses.
Neal and US Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., hosted a screening of the film at the US Capitol Building on Jan. 11 for prominent decision-makers including Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and director of the president's national drug control policy, Michael Botticelli.
"We need to stop treating addiction as a moral failing, and start seeing it for what it is: a chronic disease that must be treated with urgency and compassion," Murthy said just before the screening.
A brief panel discussion on the film and current efforts to confront the heroin crisis in Western Massachusetts will follow the screening, Leydon said.
Panelists will include Helen Caulton-Harris, commissioner for the Division of Health and Human Services for the City of Springfield; Michael Gaynor, lead counselor at Western Massachusetts Correctional Addiction Center; Sgt. John Delaney of the Springfield Police Department; and Bethany Foster, a physician's assistant and recovering addict.
Adam Wright of WHYN will moderate the discussion.
This Springfield event will be streamed live here.