America ReFramed

Oxyana

By Sean Dunne

Set among the beautiful hills and hollers of Appalachia, Oceana, West Virginia looks like a rural paradise. But this community is under siege: a raging epidemic of prescription drug abuse is so deadly that residents have nicknamed the town “Oxyana.”

In this intimate film, the townspeople share their stories: Half the pregnant women are addicted, as are their babies. Families tell of spending their last dollars for drugs, even when there’s no food in the house. The drug problem is so widespread, a resident dies every day. Running through their stories is a sense of isolation and shame: “Nobody’s going to care. This is West Virginia.”

OXYANA -- a harrowing vision of today’s AnyTown, USA.