NetflixThe highly anticipated true crime documentary, The Pharmacist, drops on Netflix today, February 5.
The Netflix original tells the story of local pharmacist Dan Schneider, whose son – Dan Jr. – tragically died in a drug-related shooting in 1999.
As Dan seeks justice for Dan Jr., he notices many kids his son’s age are coming to his pharmacy with prescriptions for high opioid medication. The worrying situation inspires Dan to go on a mission to save his community from the opioid crisis.
You can watch the trailer here:
In the trailer for the docuseries, Dan says how – following the death of his son – the police had a view that Dan Jr. ‘got what he deserved’, as he was buying drugs at the time of the shooting.
This is when the father decided to take matters into his own hands.
Determined to find answers, Dan went around knocking on doors, phoned up residents in the area and recorded conversations until he found a witness, who went on to testify against Dan Jr.’s murderer.
Netflix Dan says:
I was determined to get the killer off the street. If the police weren’t going to do it, I’m going to do it.
At first my mission was to get justice for my son, but then I started noticing in my drug store that a lot of kids around my son’s age coming in with high powered opioid prescriptions for OxyCon.
The drug that has been prescribed to lots of young people was described as ‘heroin in a pill’.
Dan discovered one doctor in particular ‘abusing her license’ to prescribe OxyCon, and said he couldn’t look the other way when tackling the crisis.
District Attorney Perry Nicosia, center, was the guest speaker at the monthly meeting of the St. Bernard Community…
Posted by St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office on Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Following his investigations, in 2013 Dan decided to set up the St. Bernard Anti-Drug Coalition to help people in his community.
Speaking to St Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office about the coalition, Dan said:
We want people, especially students, to be advocates for change. We want them to have a way to share information if they see drug use. We are telling them they are saving a life.
This is our community and our children, and working together, we can all be life-savers.
PexelsThe St. Bernard Anti-Drug Coalition put on workshops in other communities, teaching people to share information and determine what issues – such as drug abuse – are problematic in their areas, and how best to address those problems on a community-wide basis.
The Pharmacist drops on Netflix today, February 5.
If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs you can talk to FRANK. You can call 0300 123 6600, text 82111 or email via http://www.talktofrank.com/contact 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Or Live Chat at http://www.talktofrank.com/livechat from 2pm-6pm any day of the week.
Niamh Shackleton is a pint sized person and journalist at UNILAD. After studying Multimedia Journalism at the University of Salford, she did a year at Caters News Agency as a features writer in Birmingham before deciding that Manchester is (arguably) one of the best places in the world, and therefore moved back up north. She’s also UNILAD’s unofficial crazy animal lady.