Crackdown

By Crackdown Productions

What's Crackdown about?

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.

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Crackdown episodes:

03.22.2024
Episode 44: Kids on the Block Part 3 – Danny
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...
02.16.2024
Episode 43: Kids on the Block Part 2 – Jade
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...
11.28.2023
Episode 42: Kids on the Block Part 1 – Bones
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...
11.21.2023
Episode 41: New Front, Old War
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...
08.04.2023
Episode 40: Boys Don’t Cry
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...
07.06.2023
Episode 39: Backlash
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.
06.01.2023
Episode 38: The Knock
Being a mother who uses drugs can put you under constant scrutiny from the government. Especially if you’re Indigenous. You’re judged and watched. You live in fear of that knock on the door, when they come to take your kids...
03.22.2023
Episode 37: Drugstore Cowboy
Diversion: a cold, technocratic word for when we give, trade or sell our prescribed meds to someone else. A ghost story, whispered among doctors and now, a moral panic, hollered by right wing politicians. But really, everyone’s shared their meds....
02.02.2023
Episode 36: Some Exceptions Apply
BC just decriminalized drugs. Well sort of. For the next three years, it’s legal to carry 2.5 grams or less of certain illicit drugs. But some exceptions apply. We’ve been fighting for decrim for decades. The goal has always been...
12.10.2022
Episode 35: On the Clock
Sex workers who use drugs are doubly criminalized. They have to look out for bad dope and bad dates. And change comes slow. Fights for incremental change don’t get at the big structures that cause so much harm. Are they...
09.22.2022
Psychoactive Swap
I know you haven’t heard from us in a while. We’ve been busy. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes. So while we’re working on new episodes, we’ve done a swap with another podcast. Crackdown and Psychoactive podcast are...
07.19.2022
Episode 34: The Iron Law
Drug decriminalization is coming to British Columbia. And that’s a big step forward. Our movement has been fighting for decriminalization for decades. To us, decriminalization means getting cops, courts and jails out of our lives. It means police stop harassing,...
06.16.2022
Episode 33: You Will Not Destroy Me
A spectre is haunting BC’s overdose crisis — the ghost of Riverview Hospital. Riverview was one of the province’s main psychiatric hospitals for a century. The giant complex – sitting on 1,000 acres of kʷikʷəƛ̓əm territory just outside of Vancouver...
05.18.2022
Episode 32: Goodbye Greg
Last month, Crackdown Editorial Board member Greg Fresz passed away. As usual, we held a memorial for our comrade at VANDU. Sadly, we do this a lot. There’s nothing really that makes this constant death feel better, but at least...
04.22.2022
Episode 31: Love, Death and Benzodope
Can Martin and Laura’s fairy tale love story survive benzodope – the next lethal era of the drug war? British Columbia has seen a surge of unusual overdoses – including Martin and Laura’s. People are passing out for hours, losing...
03.15.2022
Episode 30: DULF
In spite of a massive spike in overdose death, BC’s government still refuses to offer a genuinely safe supply of drugs. Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum tell the story of how the Drug User Liberation Front has stepped up to...
02.15.2022
Episode 29: Resign
2,224 people died of toxic drug overdose in BC in 2021, says the Chief Coroner. How many months of fatal OD statistics have we seen since 2016? Fifty? Sixty? How many health and addictions ministers have passed through our lives...
01.13.2022
Episode 28: After the Flood
2021 was a year of very ominous weather reports. There were unprecedented heat emergencies, wildfires, and Biblical floods. Meanwhile COVID-19, income inequality, and the overdose crisis continued to become more and more grim. What would it feel like to endure...
10.27.2021
Yard Tales Swap
This month we’re bringing you an episode of the podcast Yard Tales, where Garth was recently a guest. Crackdown’s musical wizard James Ash is also featured on this one. Yard Tales is a show about forbidden spaces hosted by Luz...
09.29.2021
Episode 27: Cop Baked In
Editorial Statement on the Criticism of Suboxone 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...
08.12.2021
Live at AAA 2019
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...
07.16.2021
Episode 26: Artificial Energy
On Episode 26 of Crackdown, we look at crystal meth and the need to adapt to an unrelenting world.
06.03.2021
Episode 25: The Lab
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,...
04.29.2021
Episode 24: If It Wasn’t Drugs It Would Be Something Else
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. Garth and Desmond also discuss the relationship between the movement to decriminalize...
04.02.2021
Episode 23: Cop Free Future
https://www.patreon.com/posts/49524957 After 113 years, things might be changing in Vancouver. Mayor Kennedy Stewart has written to the federal government, asking for an exemption from Canada’s Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. If he gets it, the city could decriminalize the simple...
02.04.2021
Episode 22: We’re Not Afraid of Needles Around Here
In the midst of a pandemic and overdose crisis, members of Crackdown’s Editorial Board are relieved to be getting the COVID vaccine. But we don’t just trust the government, so we’re doing our homework. For years, drug users have looked...
12.29.2020
Episode 21: Control
https://www.patreon.com/posts/45543505 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. CREDITS Crackdown is produced on the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and...
11.26.2020
Updates
The next episode is delayed a few weeks. In the meantime, here's what we've been up to.
10.05.2020
Episode 20: Cut Off
Crackdown is made possible thanks to listener contributions made at https://www.patreon.com/posts/42397641. Thanks for supporting the show! In 2015, Crackdown editorial board member, Jeff Louden, was on morphine pills for his chronic pain. The medication allowed Jeff to find some stability and...
08.31.2020
Episode 19: Losing Hope
August 31, 2020. Today is International Overdose Awareness Day, but so what? Who needs to be made aware? Who among us can’t see the corpses piling up from this endless war? And just when you think things can't get much...
07.16.2020
Episode 18: Blue Metal Fence
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. People still lining up for food. And lining...
06.12.2020
Episode 17: Class Action
People on methadone in B.C. are suing the government and a pharmaceutical company for decisions which may have contributed to the overdose crisis. Laura Shaver is the lead plaintiff in a new proposed class action lawsuit against British Columbia’s College...
05.19.2020
Episode 16: Goodbye Dave
We were working on an episode about the housing crisis during the pandemic. But a couple weeks ago, Crackdown lost another member of our editorial board: Dave Murray. We can’t all get together to mourn him right now, to remember...
04.05.2020
Episode 15: Apocalypse Prescribing
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...
03.19.2020
Episode 14: Emergency Measures
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...
03.06.2020
Episode 13: Someone Else’s Problem
https://www.patreon.com/posts/34599640 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 ShaverAnd Chereece Keewatin. It’s been just over a year since we lost you. RiP Chereece. Crackdown’s...
01.31.2020
Episode 12: Love in a State of Emergency
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...
12.30.2019
Episode 11: The Year That Nothing Happened
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. ...
11.28.2019
Episode 10: Passing the Marker
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...
10.31.2019
Episode 9: Change Intolerance Part 2
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/
09.25.2019
(Rebroadcast) Episode 2: Change Intolerance
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...
08.28.2019
Episode 8: The Cost of Cereal
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...
08.01.2019
Episode 7: Stand Down
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/
07.04.2019
Episode 6: Room 821
https://www.patreon.com/posts/28122736 What happens when your options are being kicked out on the street or living in a room filled with mould, trash and rats? Episode 6 of Crackdown looks at how the housing and overdose crises are intertwined, and what...
06.26.2019
Bonus: The Palace
https://www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-palace-27922625 https://crackdownpod.com/ This month Crackdown is exploring the pernicious connections between North America's overdose crisis and the housing crisis. Next week's show will be a full documentary. This week, Crackdown editorial board member Al Fowler tells the story of Vancouver's...
05.29.2019
Episode 5: The Portugal Paradox
https://www.patreon.com/posts/27226897 A full transcript of this episode will be available for free in a couple days. In 2001, Portugal decriminalized the simple possession of drugs. Ever since it has become a beacon for progressives, activists, and drug users around the...
04.25.2019
Episode 4: Blame
https://www.patreon.com/posts/26341890 https://crackdownpod.com/ Crackdown is produced on the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Garth Mullins is Crackdown‘s host and executive producer. Alexander Kim was this month’s lead producer. Crackdown’s Editorial Board is: Samona Marsh, Shelda Kastor, Greg Fess,...
03.30.2019
Episode 3: Unsanctioned
Vancouver has become famous for Insite--North America's first supervised injection facility. iIt's one of the more exciting (and effective) drug policy interventions in the world. However, most people don't know the story activism and civil disobedience that preceded it.
02.27.2019
Episode 2: Change Intolerance
https://crackdownpod.com/podcast/episode-2-change-intolerance/ EPISODE 2: CHANGE INTOLERANCE British Columbia switched nearly 15,000 methadone patients to a new formulation called Methadose in 2014. In Crackdown's second episode, Garth Mullins, Laura Shaver, and their colleagues at the British Columbia Association of People on...
01.30.2019
Episode 1: War Correspondents
Drug users are the experts. We’ve survived. We know policy better than policy-makers. We know law better than lawmakers. We know pharmaceuticals better than pharmacists. We know nobody’s coming to save us. So we gotta save ourselves.

What's Crackdown about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Crackdown episodes:

Episode 44: Kids on the Block Part 3 – Danny

Episode 43: Kids on the Block Part 2 – Jade

Episode 42: Kids on the Block Part 1 – Bones

Episode 41: New Front, Old War

Episode 40: Boys Don’t Cry

Episode 39: Backlash

Episode 38: The Knock

Episode 37: Drugstore Cowboy

Episode 36: Some Exceptions Apply

Episode 35: On the Clock

Psychoactive Swap

Episode 34: The Iron Law

Episode 33: You Will Not Destroy Me

Episode 32: Goodbye Greg

Episode 31: Love, Death and Benzodope

Episode 30: DULF

Episode 29: Resign

Episode 28: After the Flood

Yard Tales Swap

Episode 27: Cop Baked In

Live at AAA 2019

Episode 26: Artificial Energy

Episode 25: The Lab

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

Episode 23: Cop Free Future

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

Episode 21: Control

Updates

Episode 20: Cut Off

Episode 19: Losing Hope

Episode 18: Blue Metal Fence

Episode 17: Class Action

Episode 16: Goodbye Dave

Episode 15: Apocalypse Prescribing

Episode 14: Emergency Measures

Episode 13: Someone Else’s Problem

Episode 12: Love in a State of Emergency

Episode 11: The Year That Nothing Happened

Episode 10: Passing the Marker

Episode 9: Change Intolerance Part 2

(Rebroadcast) Episode 2: Change Intolerance

Episode 8: The Cost of Cereal

Episode 7: Stand Down

Episode 6: Room 821

Bonus: The Palace

Episode 5: The Portugal Paradox

Episode 4: Blame

Episode 3: Unsanctioned

Episode 2: Change Intolerance

Episode 1: War Correspondents