Since 2017, the BC government has been massively expanding access to a prescription medication called Suboxone that provides far less euphoria than methadone or heroin. On episode 27 of Crackdown, we tell the story of Crackdown Editorial Board Reija Jean as she tries to become a “Suboxone person.” Can she kick dope with the help … Continue reading Episode 27: Cop Baked In →

Crackdown

Episode 27: Cop Baked In

Here’s a little bonus content. In November of 2019, Crackdown held a panel at the American Anthropological Association Conference in Vancouver. As drug users, we’ve gotten familiar with what it feels like when anthropology is done to us, when we are its subjects – its Guinea pigs. But in this panel we talk about what … Continue reading Live at AAA 2019 →

Live at AAA 2019

On Episode 26 of Crackdown, we look at crystal meth and the need to adapt to an unrelenting world.

Episode 26: Artificial Energy

While overdoses in BC are climbing to unprecedented rates, some doctors still refuse to provide drug users with access to pharmaceutical versions of illicit drugs. Instead, many doctors view addiction as a chronic disease to be treated by limiting euphoria, prescribing “safer” analogues, or surveilling their patients. On episode 25, Garth interviews Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute … Continue reading Episode 25: The Lab →

Episode 25: The Lab

On Episode 24, Garth talks with the best-selling writer and activist Desmond Cole about how police use Canada’s drug war as a pretext for violence against Black communities.

Episode 24: If It Wasn’t Drugs It Would Be Something Else

After 113 years, things might be changing in Vancouver as the city looks to decriminalize the simple possession of drugs. In episode 23, Crackdown takes a look at the birth of the drug war in Canada.

Episode 23: Cop Free Future

On episode 22, Dr. Kimberly Sue, Medical Director of the Harm Reduction Coalition, answers our questions about COVID19 and the politics of vaccination.

Episode 22: We’re Not Afraid of Needles Around Here

This is Canadaland’s episode #347 from November – The Brayden Bushby Trial And Pity Porn

Canadaland Swap

Activist Kali Sedgemore and anthropologist Danya Fast tell a story about the government’s desire for control—the way its attempts to detain and manage drug users often backfire.

Episode 21: Control

The next episode is delayed a few weeks. In the meantime, here’s what we’ve been up to.

Updates

In 2015, Crackdown editorial board member, Jeff Louden, was on morphine pills for chronic pain. When Jeff’s doctor cut down his medication, he turned to the street to outrun dopesickness. Five years later, Garth investigates what happened to Jeff.

Episode 20: Cut Off

Garth interviews Tim Slaney. Tim is a harm reduction worker at the supervised consumption site in Lethbridge, Alberta – one of the busiest in the world. And the government is shutting it down.

Episode 19: Losing Hope

The first thing that the plague brought to Vancouver was exile. In March, People vanished. The city looked like a ghost town. But on the Downtown Eastside, the sidewalks were still packed…

Episode 18: Blue Metal Fence

As BC faces its worst ever month for fatal overdoses, Laura Shaver takes Mallinckrodt, the College of Pharmacists, and the Ministry of Health to Court.

Episode 17: Class Action

The drug war, covered by drug users as war correspondents. Crackdown is a monthly podcast about drugs, drug policy and the drug war led by drug user activists and supported by research. Each episode will tell the story of a community fighting for their lives. It’s also about solutions, justice for those we have lost, and saving lives.