Episode 11: The Year That Nothing Happened
Image: Samona Marsh and her dog Ollie ride a mobility scooter outside VANDU’s Downtown Eastside storefront. (Photo: Alexander Kim)
Dean Wilson—a Crackdown editorial board member and elder statesman of Vancouver’s drug user movement—thinks 2019 might be his most disappointing year as an activist. “We’ve accomplished absolutely fucking nothing, I’m incredibly depressed about it,” he recently told Garth Mullins.
“2019, will be known to me as the year that nothing happened.”
Dean’s right. We haven’t had a big win in a while. And 2019 feels a bit like a depressing blur. But it was also a year where we fought back. In the last Crackdown episode of the year, we tell four stories about surviving the drug war. Each story is one small moment–something that might otherwise be forgotten. Maybe these stories can tell us something about where we are now—and what we need to do in 2020.
This episode discusses suicide. If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or know someone who is, you can reach out for help here.
Transcript
Image: Jeff Louden’s arm, covered in Tagaderm. (Photo by Garth Mullins)
Sam Fenn interviews Samona Marsh and Kevin Yake upstairs at the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users. (Photo by Alexander Kim)
Image: Garth Mullins sits with Ollie. (Photo by Dexter McMillan)
Reading List
Bardwell, Geoff, Taylor Fleming, Alexandra B. Collins, Jade Boyd, and Ryan McNeil. 2018. “Addressing Intersecting Housing and Overdose Crises in Vancouver, Canada: Opportunities and Challenges from a Tenant-Led Overdose Response Intervention in Single Room Occupancy Hotels.” Journal of Urban Health 96 (1): 12–20.
Bardwell, Geoff, Thomas Kerr, Jade Boyd, and Ryan McNeil. 2018. “Characterizing Peer Roles in an Overdose Crisis: Preferences for Peer Workers in Overdose Response Programs in Emergency Shelters.” Drug and Alcohol Dependence 190 (September): 6–8.
Bardwell, Geoff, Evan Wood, and Rupinder Brar. 2019. “Fentanyl Assisted Treatment: A Possible Role in the Opioid Overdose Epidemic?” Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy 14 (1).
Bula, Frances. 2019. “B.C. Municipalities Pass Bylaws Targeting Homeless.” The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail. November 15, 2019.
Government of Canada. 2014. “Evidence – SECU (41-2) – No. 36 – House of Commons of Canada.” Ourcommons.Ca. Government of Canada. November 4, 2014.
Government of Canada. 2019. “Opioid-Related Harms in Canada – Public Health Infobase | Public Health Agency of Canada.” Canada.Ca. Government of Canada. 2019.
Johnston, Jesse. 2019. “Meet the B.C. Man Who Has Reversed More than 190 Overdoses.” CBC. April 15, 2019.
Kennedy, MC, Jade Boyd, Samara Mayer, Alexandra Collins, Thomas Kerr, and Ryan McNeil. 2019. “Peer Worker Involvement in Low-Threshold Supervised Consumption Facilities in the Context of an Overdose Epidemic in Vancouver, Canada.” Social Science & Medicine 225 (March): 60–68.
Kennedy, MC, David C. Klassen, Huiru Dong, M-J S. Milloy, Kanna Hayashi, and Thomas H. Kerr. 2019. “Supervised Injection Facility Utilization Patterns: A Prospective Cohort Study in Vancouver, Canada.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 57 (3): 330–37.
Kerr, Thomas, Sanjana Mitra, Mary Clare Kennedy, and Ryan McNeil. 2017. “Supervised Injection Facilities in Canada: Past, Present, and Future.” Harm Reduction Journal 14 (1).
Mayer, S., Boyd, J., Collins, A., Kennedy, M. C., Fairbairn, N., & McNeil, R. (2018). Characterizing fentanyl-related overdoses and implications for overdose response: Findings from a rapid ethnographic study in Vancouver, Canada. Drug and alcohol dependence 193, 69-74.
Luymes, Glenda. Vancouver. 2017. “‘I’m Going to Allow These Things to Drive Me Forward … :’ Maple Ridge Mayor on Threats to Her Safety.” Vancouver Sun. Vancouver Sun. July 7, 2017.
McNeil, Ryan, Thomas Kerr, Hugh Lampkin, and Will Small. 2015. “‘We Need Somewhere to Smoke Crack’: An Ethnographic Study of an Unsanctioned Safer Smoking Room in Vancouver, Canada.” International Journal of Drug Policy 26 (7): 645–52.
McNeil, Ryan, Will Small, Hugh Lampkin, Kate Shannon, and Thomas Kerr. 2013. “‘People Knew They Could Come Here to Get Help’: An Ethnographic Study of Assisted Injection Practices at a Peer-Run ‘Unsanctioned’ Supervised Drug Consumption Room in a Canadian Setting.” AIDS and Behavior 18 (3): 473–85.
Notta, Dania, Brian Black, TianXin Chu, Ronald Joe, and Mark Lysyshyn. 2019. “Changing Risk and Presentation of Overdose Associated with Consumption of Street Drugs at a Supervised Injection Site in Vancouver, Canada.” Drug and Alcohol Dependence 196 (March): 46–50.
Shearer, Daniel, Taylor Fleming, Al Fowler, Jade Boyd, and Ryan McNeil. 2019. “Naloxone Distribution, Trauma, and Supporting Community-Based Overdose Responders.” International Journal of Drug Policy 74 (December): 255–56.
Wallace, Bruce, Katrina Barber, and Bernadette (Bernie) Pauly. 2018a. “Sheltering Risks: Implementation of Harm Reduction in Homeless Shelters during an Overdose Emergency.” International Journal of Drug Policy 53 (March): 83–89.
Woo, Andrea. 2019. “Unsanctioned Overdose-Prevention Site Opens in Maple Ridge, Renewing Debate over Drug Use and Homelessness.” The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail. June 6, 2019.
Credits
Crackdown is produced on the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.
Thank you to Nathan Crompton, Ivan Drury, Andrea Woo, Samara Mayer, and Andrew Ivsins.
Our Editorial Board is: Samona Marsh, Shelda Kastor, Greg Fess, Jeff Louden, Dean Wilson, Dave Murray, Al Fowler, Laura Shaver. Rest in Peace Chereece Keewatin.
Crackdown‘s host, writer and executive producer is Garth Mullins.
Crackdown’s senior producer is Sam Fenn.
Crackdown‘s producers are Alexander Kim, Lisa Hale, Polly Leger and this month, Alex de Boer.
Crackdown‘s science advisor is Ryan McNeil, now of Yale University.
All of the music on today’s program was composed, preformed, and produced by Sam Fenn, Jacob Dryden, Kai Paulson, James Ash and Garth Mullins. Our theme song was written by Garth and Sam with accompaniment from Dave Gens and Ben Appenheimer.
Today’s episode also featured the song “Fuck You Pigs” by Trey Helton’s band The Fuck You Pigs.
We make this podcast with funds from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. And from our Patreon supporters. You can support us at Patreon.com/crackdownpod.
Follow us on twitter @crackdownpod. Our website is: crackdownpod.com.
