UPDATE 2-15-17: Click here to view the documentary “Journey To Recovery” on KET.


Several individuals with ties to Operation UNITE will be featured in a Kentucky Educational Television documentary that will air at 8 pm on Monday, February 13.

“Journey To Recovery,” explores personal stories of triumph over addiction using various recovery programs.

Among those featured in the program are UNITE Coalition Coordinator Carl Varney, summer interns Cheyenne Morgan and Caleb Dunn, and Camp UNITE Team Leader and former camper Chase Gilbert.

Immediately following the documentary, at 9 pm, KET will air the special “Inside Opioid Addiction Forum” that includes Operation UNITE President/CEO Nancy Hale. Read related story.

ket-magazine-composite-webOpioids – 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. Deaths due to opioid overdoses claim the lives of 91 Americans every day – one every 16 minutes.

As families touched by addiction know all to well, our nation is in the midst of an opioid epidemic. “Journey To Recovery” is an effort to address the epidemic and provide information about treatment options available in Kentucky.

“Journey To Recovery” is narrated by Grammy-nominated recording artist and Kentucky native Sturgill Simpson.

The documentary 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.