Vancouver, British Columbia, is one of the best places on earth – a world class city surrounded by ocean and mountains. If you can afford it, the good life is yours. 

But over the last fifteen years, Vancouver has become more dangerous for drug users than ever before. Especially young drug users. 

In episode 49, we hear from professor Danya Fast and Sarah West, one of Danya’s research collaborators. Both reflect on what it’s like to witness and to document preventable deaths during this crisis.

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On the eve of a provincial election in British Columbia, Garth and Sam drill down on the parties’ platforms. Plus — VANDU member Scotty Archondous tells a story relevant to BC’s coming involuntary treatment program.

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In episode 47, we bring you a brief update on the show and the harm reduction movement. Plus you’ll hear new tunes from Garth’s band.

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In Canada, alcohol is legal and we have a safe supply of booze. So why do some people drink mouthwash or rice wine? And why does the state over-police poor people for public drinking?

In episode 46, we learn how Canada’s alcohol policies drive illicit drinking. And we hear from a group of drinkers who are fighting back with alcohol-based harm reduction.

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Politicians and much of the media have been lying and whipping up a moral panic. And now, decriminalization in British Columbia is all but dead. In this episode, Garth talks with Crackdown senior producer Sam Fenn and VANDU organizer Hannah Dempsey to bring you the straight goods on why drugs have been re-criminalized and what the grim implications of this move are.

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Right wing politicians say safe supply will hurt kids – that young people will get hooked on drugs they’d otherwise never try.

But kids already use drugs. If we want to protect and stabilize the lives of young people who use drugs, we need a regulated, non-toxic drug supply.

On episode 44, we hear from Danny – a young queer refugee who shares their story of surviving persecution and toxic drugs.

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Rightwing politicians and media pundits want us to fear safe supply and harm reduction. They say these interventions are putting children and families in danger, when we know the opposite is true.

But there is one thing these conservatives are right about: Canadian kids have never been less safe. Not because of harm reduction, but because toxic illicit drugs might fuck up their lives. Or, because toxic illicit drugs might fuck up their parents’ lives.

On episode 43, we tell the story of Jade — a 21 year old harm reduction worker from Saskatchewan whose parents use drugs.

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Across the country, politicians and the media are fearmongering about children’s safety. They’re using a faux concern about families to attack harm reduction and the drug user movement. And their rhetoric is rolling back life-saving, public health responses to the overdose crisis. But now young people are pushing back. They’re saying they don’t want to see harm reduction attacked in their name.

Kids on the Block Part 1 tells the story of Bones, a teenager from a small town in Western Canada as he struggles to survive the overdose crisis and keep his friends safe.

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Toxic drug deaths continue to break records in BC. We need an immediate expansion on all harm reduction initiatives. More than anything, we need a real safe supply.

Instead, the BC NDP is moving backwards. They’ve fallen in line with a nation-wide moral panic and are actively rolling back the province’s hydromorphone prescribing and drug decriminalization programs. Last month, cops arrested DULF co-founders, Jeremy Kalicum and Eris Nyx. Their crime? Doing what the government refused to do — provide a safe supply of drugs to people at risk of toxic drug death.

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In the trades there’s a zero-tolerance policy on substance use. But the construction industry relies on drugs. Cocaine and stimulants help maintain a demanding rate of production and opioids treat the pain caused by injury and gruelling physical labour. On the 40th episode of Crackdown, we tell the story of one construction industry veteran, Trevor Botkin, in order to explore the culture of exploitation, secrecy, and hypermasculinity that is driving overdoses among men in the trades.

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A right wing backlash against harm reduction and safe supply is brewing in Canada. Garth Mullins and Sam Fenn tell the story of how we got here — and what needs to be done to fight back.