Crackdown

Latest Episodes:

Episode 15: Apocalypse Prescribing Apr 05, 2020

Show notes

The government has finally agreed to provide us with a safe, medical alternative to black market drugs. On Episode 15, we dig deep into the new policy and tell the story of advocacy that made this possible.

WORKS CITED

BC Centre for Disease Control: Harm reduction information for people who use substances in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak.

BC Centre for Disease Control: Weekly overdose data, March 22-March 28, 2020

Canadian Association of People who Use Drugs. Safe Supply Concept Document. February 2019

CBC News: B.C. releases plan to provide safe supply of drugs during COVID-19 pandemic. March 26, 2020

Coronavirus Is Leading to Shortages of Fentanyl And Meth. Deborah Bonello. Vice.com. March 19, 2020

COVID-19: Open letter from DTES frontline workers to Horgan, Dix, Henry, Daly, Stewart, and Darcy—we need more, now. By Concerned registered nurses and frontline workers of the DTES. Georgia Straight, March 31, 2020.

Fleming, T., Barker, A., Ivsins, A. et al. Stimulant safe supply: a potential opportunity to respond to the overdose epidemic. Harm Reduct J 17, 6 (2020).

CREDITS

Crackdown is produced on the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.Our Editorial Board is:Samona MarshShelda KastorGreg FessJeff LoudenDean WilsonDave MurrayAl FowlerLaura ShaverRIP Chereece Keewatin.

Crackdown’s senior producer is Sam Fenn. Our producers are Lisa Hale and Alexander Kim. With help from Polly Leger.

Our science advisor is Ryan McNeil. Assistant Professor & Director of Harm Reduction Research in the Yale School of Medicine.Garth Mullins is Crackdown’s host, writer and executive producer. You can follow him on twitter @garthmullins.Original score written and performed by Sam Fenn, James Ash, Kai Paulson and Garth Mullins. Our theme song was written by Garth and Sam with accompaniment from Dave Gens and Ben Appenheimer.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 you, our Patreon supporters.

Stay safe. Keep six.

Episode 14: Emergency Measures Mar 19, 2020

Show notes

Governments are taking drastic measures to try to slow down the spread of #COVID-19 - declaring emergencies, shutting down businesses and sealing borders. But what about drug users? We have been facing a deadly public health emergency for years, with no drastic measures taken. Will they forget us again this time?

Since the first coronavirus case was confirmed in British Columbia, around 150 people have died from a contaminated drug supply. Four people have died from COVID-19. Now we face both crises at once.

Many drug users in our community are middle aged. And the life can really put years on you. Many of us have COPD or are immunocompromised. The pandemic could cut through us like a scythe.

Episode 13: Someone Else’s Problem Mar 06, 2020

Show notes

https://www.patreon.com/posts/34599640

Crackdown’s senior producer is Sam Fenn. Our producers are Lisa Hale and Alexander Kim. This month we had production help from Alex de Boer and Polly Leger.

Our science advisor is Ryan McNeil. Assistant Professor & Director of Harm Reduction Research in the Yale School of Medicine.Garth Mullins is Crackdown’s host, writer and executive producer. You can follow him on twitter @garthmullins.Original score written and performed by Sam Fenn, James Ash and Garth Mullins. Our theme song was written by Garth and Sam with accompaniment from Dave Gens and Ben Appenheimer.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 you, our Patreon supporters.

Episode 12: Love in a State of Emergency Jan 31, 2020

Show notes

You can't understand Canada's overdose crisis without knowing the truth about this country - and that’s the story of colonization: a centuries-long effort to steal land and erase Indigenous peoples.

In April 2019, Garth and Thunder Bay podcast creator Ryan McMahon were chatting on the phone. Ryan said that some Indigenous communities are reticent about harm reduction and that Crackdown should look at that.

We've been talking about making this episode since our first editorial board meeting in 2018, when Chereece Keewatin, Shelda Kastor and Jeff Louden talked about how the overdose crisis affects them as Indigenous people. Since then Chereece died - and we blame racist drug war policies for that.

Shelda guided the work on this episode, mapping the connections between abstinence programs, the Red Road and Indigenous approaches harm reduction.

A full transcript of this episode will be available in a few days.

Episode 11: The Year That Nothing Happened Dec 30, 2019

Show notes

https://www.patreon.com/posts/32665947

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.

Episode 10: Passing the Marker Nov 28, 2019

Show notes

Episode 10: Passing the Marker https://www.patreon.com/posts/31903838

In 2018, Scotland had a higher rate of drug-related deaths than Canada or the U.S. -- even though fentanyl hasn’t taken over the U.K.’s drug supply. In Episode 10, CRACKDOWN crosses the Atlantic to try and figure out what's going on.

Episode 9: Change Intolerance Part 2 Oct 31, 2019

Show notes

Crackdown investigates the relationship between the BC government and Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. Many people on methadone complain that Methadose® "doesn't have legs." Why hasn't the government provided them with a more effective option?

https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-9-change-31208832

https://crackdownpod.com/

(Rebroadcast) Episode 2: Change Intolerance Sep 25, 2019

Show notes

We don’t have a full documentary this month - for a pretty good reason.

Our senior producer and his partner had a baby a bit over a week ago. Congratulations Sam and Patricia. It's so nice to have a little new life - especially when things have been bleak.

Sam and I have been working on something you’ll hear next month. A follow up to episode 2 - “Change Intolerance.” In that episode, we explained how everyone on methadone got switched onto a big pharma formulation in 2014. That left loads of us dope sick and topping up from a contaminated drug supply.

Overdoses and deaths followed and I’m pretty sure we’ve lost thousands this way.

Sam & I followed up Laura Shaver’s big question from that episode - Why? Why did the government make this decision? Why didn’t they listen to us when we said it was a mistake?

Crackdown requested documents under the Freedom of Information Act. Much of what we got back was redacted - censored. But the documents that we CAN see - they tell a story. We’ll have that for you at the end of October.

And in November, we’ll have a documentary on the crisis in Scotland. We were in Glasgow in late August.

Finally a bit of personal news. Back in the day, I messed up school because I spent all my time grinding to get up cash for heroin. This month I went back. I’m taking another run at higher education. So in a few years, hopefully I’ll get to say to cops: “Actually, that’s DOCTOR Mullins, officer.” Fingers crossed.

See you soon. Keep six.

Episode 8: The Cost of Cereal Aug 28, 2019

Show notes

Men are dying at a higher rate than women during the opioid crisis, which means women sometimes get left out of the conversation. On Episode 8, we go to SisterSpace, North America’s first women-only safe consumption site.

A full transcript for this episode will be available in a few days.

August 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day. Events are taking place around the world. Check out Overdoseday.com.

If you want to learn how to use Naloxone to reverse an overdose, you can get training here: naloxonetraining.com

CALL TO ACTION

If you want to see more funding to extend hours of overdose prevention sites like SisterSpace, write to The City of Vancouver, Vancouver Coastal Health, and the B.C. Ministry of Health.CREDITS

Garth Mullins is Crackdown‘s host and executive producer.

Crackdown is produced by Alexander Kim, Polly Leger, Lisa Hale, Sam Fenn, and Gordon Katic.

Thank you to SisterSpace for having us.

Crackdown’s Editorial Board is: Samona Marsh, Shelda Kastor, Greg Fess, Jeff Louden, Dean Wilson, Laura Shaver, Dave Murray, and Al Fowler. Rest In Peace Chereece Keewatin.

Our scientific advisers are Ryan McNeil and Jade Boyd from the BC Centre on Substance Use and the Department of Medicine at the University of Britsh Columbia.

Original score written and performed 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.

Funding for Crackdown comes from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

You can follow us on twitter @crackdownpod.

You can send us an email at info@crackdowpod.com.

New episodes air on the last Wednesday of the month.

Episode 7: Stand Down Aug 01, 2019

Show notes

The Vancouver Police say they’re for harm reduction, but everyone we talk to in the Downtown Eastside says otherwise. On Episode 7 of Crackdown, Garth asks the cops to stand down.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-7-stand-28810985

https://crackdownpod.com/

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