Opioids – including heroin and prescription opioids such as oxycodone and hydrocodone –killed more than 33,000 people in 2015, more than any year on record, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As families touched by addiction know all too well, our nation is in the midst of an opioid epidemic. In an effort to address the problem, KET presents an encore presentation of Journey to Recovery, a documentary exploring personal stories of triumph over addiction using various recovery programs, plus a special edition of Connections with Renee Shaw featuring highlights from the recent, 2017 National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit in Atlanta.

Journey to Recovery airs Monday, May 8 at 9/8 pm on KET. Connections with Renee Shaw airs Friday, May 12 at 5/4 pm on KET2 and Sunday, May 14 at 1:30/12:30 pm on KET.

Journey to Recovery examines an array of treatment and recovery programs offered across the state, including abstinence-only programs – such as faith-based and 12-step based programs – as well as medication-assisted treatment programs. The program also interviews many of the nation’s top experts on addiction, including Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and Dr. Robert DuPont, a former NIDA director and former White House Drug Chief who continues to advocate for a reduction in illegal drug use through his role as founding director of the Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc.

Connections with Renee Shaw focuses on new trends in treating opioid addiction, including work toward development of a heroin and fentanyl vaccine; new, non-addictive formulations for pain treatment; and brain imaging that objectively measures pain. Also, Rep. Harold “Hal” Rogers talks with KET about legislation to provide funding for opioid addiction prevention and treatment. Viewers will also hear from Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health; Volkow; and Van Ingram, executive director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, who joins Shaw on set.

Journey to Recovery and Connections with Renee Shaw are KET productions. Journey to Recovery is part of KET’s ongoing Inside Opioid Addiction initiative, funded in part by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. The initiative’s website, KET.org/opioids, includes archived KET and national programs addressing America’s growing opioid problem.

KET is Kentucky’s largest classroom, serving more than one million people each week via television, online and mobile. Learn more about Kentucky’s preeminent public media organization on Twitter @KET and facebook.com/KET and at KET.org.