Show Notes
A big legal win for DULF means a defeat for the drug war: all charges have been dropped against our comrades, Jeremy and Eris. Meanwhile, election time in BC & Ontario means more fearmongering & scapegoating of drug users.
On Episode 59 of Crackdown, Garth and Sam talk about it all with frontline harm reduction worker, drug user activist and researcher Zoe Dodd.
Headlines
A new prison in the west end? Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim’s political opponents have accused him of proposing to build a prison for drug users, people with mental health problems, and homeless people at the soon-to-be former St. Paul’s Hospital site. (Link 1, Link 2).
Prime Minister Mark Carney is fulfilling Stephen Harper’s wildest dreams. Carney’s new Omnibus Bill C-39 – The Building Canada Strong Act gives the government the right to force an end to a strike when it’s deemed to be injurious to the national interest. With that declaration, impacts to Indigenous rights, environmental reviews, and permitting are all after the fact. Carney announced the first Project of National Interest (or PONI) Another pipeline from Alberta’s tar sands to the BC coast. First Nations and Environmental groups are already sounding the alarm. Meanwhile, Carney has continued to sell off Canada’s public assets, including airports, while slashing federal jobs and cutting the budgets of federal departments. (Link 1, Link 2).
Residential school denialism is thriving in Canada. In late September, just before the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, masked neo-nazis with the group Second Sons marched in uniform on on the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc reserve. The group also unfurled a banner reading “Got Bones” on an overpass. Experts say this kind of residential school denialism has been on the rise in Canada including among far right elected officials and political staffers. This comes in spite of clear, documented evidence that over 4,000 Indigenous children died at residential schools across the country and that many were buried in unmarked graves. (Link 1, Link 2, Link 3).
Updates
Sam and Garth discuss DULF’s big win at BC’s Supreme Court.
Feature Story
Garth, Sam and Zoe recount Doug Ford’s attacks on harm reduction and discuss upcoming elections in BC and Ontario.
Community Profile
Support Starlings work with youth whose parents use drugs here.
Community Bulletin Board
Check out…
Sam Iravani’s book, Angel Dust Memories, about the history of PCP: https://www.indigo.ca/products/angel-dust-memories
Rogan O’Donnell’s documentary InhuMAINE, about a homeless decampment in Bangor, Maine: https://www.inhumaine.me/
Stephen Lucas’s database showing what criminal penalities are on the books for every drug and every country: https://www.google.com/url?q=http://2cb.com&source=gmail&ust=1789617992065000&sa=E
And the work of Caila Garcia and other organizers with SHRED the Stigma – one of only two harm reduction organizations left in the state. SHRED the Stigma delivers harm reduction gear via anonymous text messages: https://shredthestigmaok.org/
Works Cited
Benedikt Fischer et al., “Involuntary Treatment for Severe Substance Use Disorders– Issues, Evidence and Considerations for Its Use,” The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 70, no. 8 (2025): 597‐599;
Unity Health Toronto, South Riverdale Community Health Centre Consumption and Treatment Service Review (2024), https://www.ontario.ca/files/2024-08/moh-consumption-treatment-service-review-unity-health-en-2024-08-19.pdf.
Credits
Crackdown is produced on the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations.
Our editorial board is Dean Wilson, Jeff Louden, Laura Shaver, Samona Marsh, Delilah Gregg, Ryan Maddeaux, Scotty Archonous and Martin Steward. Rest in peace Shelda Kastor, Dave Murray, Greg Fresz and Chereece Keewatin.
This episode was conceptualized, written, and produced by Sam Fenn and Garth Mullins with help from Zoe Dodd. It contains music written by Garth and Sam, as well as music from Blue Dot
More from Crackdown
Cops kill people. They hurt people. They sexually assault people. And when they do, there’s a whole system that’s supposed to hold them accountable, but it barely works. On Episode 58, Garth and Sam dig into Canada’s rotten history of police accountability—and ask whether the system is failing, or doing exactly what it was built to do.
It’s been almost six years since the launch of BC’s tiny safe supply program; also known as “prescribed alternatives.” Although the evidence that safe supply saves lives hasn’t changed, the political favourability of BC’s program has.
With fascism on the rise around the world, we explore the relationship between Canada’s housing and policing policies and the risk of far right authoritarianism at home.
Alberta is the involuntary treatment capital of Canada. Since 2006, the province has encouraged parents to waive their children’s rights and force them into detox as part of the Protection of Children Abusing Drugs Act. And in the coming months, Alberta will begin involuntarily detaining adults as well.