On the Overdose Frontline | Love in the Time of Fentanyl | ENDEVR Documentary

Added: 2026-05-07

[00:00:17]Uh 50 East Hastings overdose on the sidewalk.

[00:00:22]>> Heart rate very low. 25.

[00:00:25]>> Uh we just heard there was an overdose and ran to the situation and the person's blue and uh I'd say 50s.

[00:00:33]>> We don't know. They're unresponsive.

[00:00:37]3 2004 >> Yes, he's been given Narcan.

[00:00:41]>> His blood oxygen is starting to increase.

[00:00:43]>> Blood oxygen is starting to increase.

[00:00:47]>> 2004.

[00:00:48]>> How many doses?

[00:00:49]>> Just one so far.

[00:00:50]>> Just one so far.

[00:01:00]>> I got the mask, my friend. You got overdose.

[00:01:04]>> Yeah. So one >> sometimes you don't need any.

[00:01:10]>> Yeah.

[00:01:11]>> The most important thing is oxygen.

[00:01:13]>> Oxygen. I saw the number >> and he's getting sitting up now.

[00:01:22]>> Sorry I can't hear. I think the ambulance is here. Is it okay if I let you go?

[00:01:26]>> Yeah.

[00:02:53]down.

[00:03:01]Radio mighty Ready to do this?

[00:03:17]All right. All right.

[00:03:43]Yeah. Yeah. Uh just, you know, at the time, Insight was overwhelmed. We needed more sites and we couldn't wait to get all the paperwork and bureaucracy done that was needed. So, we just basically said, "Listen, we going to do this and and they got to support it because I don't think anyone could justify having a person overdose in front of them and not doing anything." And and we had had a lot of community members in the neighborhood who'd lost friends and family. And I think out of frustration and stress and all the trauma that we were feeling, we just didn't care what the repercussions would be. We knew that we were doing the right thing and that we were justified. But it's really, you know, the community has really come together in a way uh to help each other.

[00:04:29]You know, when when others weren't there to help them, they stepped up and it's just uh very heroic. But in another sense, um when's the relief, you know, when does it get better? And yeah, when >> Hi, we good.

[00:04:48]>> Okay. Uh let's get fire in here. Don, do you want do you want to start us?

[00:04:54]>> Yeah. My name is Don Der. I'm an elder of Souk First Nation. My uh cultural name is man and the light. I'd like to thank the Muskan peoples and my relatives and friends of the North Shore for allowing us to have this uh wonderful site here. We're able to do what we do able to do. When I lift my hands like this is a gesture of thanks.

[00:05:12]Hiska in my language is thank you. And CM is friend. So CMKA welcome to the new people.

[00:05:19]>> Thank you D. Let's remember where we are. Our community has endured a crisis and so many of us chose to respond. The response of this site gave decision makers a direction and a model to copy.

[00:05:32]Now there are sites across the city of Vancouver, across the province of British Columbia, across Canada, and increasingly around the world. We keep our community safe. We keep our loved ones alive. And in sharing our compassion and wisdom, we become world changers, each of us here. So keep your standards high because you're a world changer. Care for and support your team because they are world changers. And know that you're valued and together we say thank you for all the important worldchanging work you do day in and day out. So thank each one of you for the important work you do.

[00:06:06]>> Thank you.

[00:06:07]>> If an OD happens in the injection room, we have three staff. What does the first person want to do?

[00:06:14]>> Tell our yellow overdose.

[00:06:17]>> Right. So we alert the room there's an O. We have one person is administering the lock zone. The other person would set up the oxygen and airway >> and crowd control. So it's up to the third person to >> keep care of the person's table, gather up his belongings and phone 911 and crowd control like that. Right. So auximter.

[00:06:40]I've never had one like this. But anyway, you know your job here over there on the thumb there. Give him one third. Got the Narcan ready >> right here.

[00:06:50]>> Bang. Shoot it in. You're You're on no D, Don. Come out of it.

[00:06:56]>> He's coming out of it. He's coming out of it.

[00:06:59]>> He'll pull the thing out.

[00:07:00]>> He's pulling it out. Yay. We saved another one.

[00:07:05]>> So, when someone is given Naran, we know that it wears off within 30 minutes.

[00:07:10]>> So, you want to encourage the person to stay where we can monitor them. One more thing, as everyone knows, Norma likes to cook dinner with her man, James. So, we're having another Norma supper club coming up this month. Not tonight, >> but soon. So, I just want to say thank you to Norma for doing that.

[00:07:30]>> I love cooking for all.

[00:07:32]>> Feel free to just voice it a moment of dedication and close. Okay.

[00:07:43]Daryl's cousin >> Thank you. Thanks everyone.

[00:08:05]Just want to check in with you a little later.

[00:08:09]and we are open for business.

[00:08:14]>> Thank you.

[00:08:15]>> Going in.

[00:08:15]>> Yeah. So then after your training shift, then you can at the beginning of each of these shifts, 8 to 5, you can and obviously it's different on Monday. It's noon. That's the only exception. But then uh once you've done your training shift, then you can fish.

[00:08:30]>> Uh yeah, we got one.

[00:08:41]Zelda.

[00:08:46]>> Yeah.

[00:08:48]>> Yeah.

[00:08:49]>> New table. Joy.

[00:08:51]>> What's your handle?

[00:08:52]>> Wild.

[00:08:54]>> Wild.

[00:08:55]>> You doing both?

[00:08:57]>> Joy.

[00:08:57]>> Doing side and down. Okay. Dana, can you can you put this schedule up?

[00:09:03]>> Hey, Dennis.

[00:09:06]>> Hey, son. How's it going, bro?

[00:09:08]>> Hey, bro. How you doing?

[00:09:12]>> Hey, everybody. What's up with that?

[00:09:15]>> Derek ends right there, but he's been passed out all day, so you can pay him when he wakes up.

[00:09:20]>> And Mars, >> um Chris W got um a $10 advance. We got that from Trey, so it's not from this, >> but so you should be uh like 60 60 short.

[00:09:31]>> We've got our positive for fentinel on our dipstick. I'm going to let it dry just a little more. But the negative is coming in on the benzo. Two lines. The strip closest to me means negative for benzo. One line on the strip closest to you means positive for fentinel.

[00:09:44]>> Oh yeah. New people. New people meet me over here.

[00:09:50]>> It's important to note that this isn't traditional employment, okay? It's a volunteer position, okay? With a with a paid honorarium. You know, it's not quick money and it's not lucrative, but it is an opportunity to respond to a crisis in your community to care for loved ones and for some people replace a hustle, right? That is often criminalized like boosting or sex trade or whatever it may be that that ends up uh putting people in a negative cycle.

[00:10:18]Thank you. Uh all of the staff here are current drug users or former. All right, so they're people with lived experience.

[00:10:26]acknowledging that people use, right? We ask that they don't use on their shift.

[00:10:32]Um, and use up to a maintenance level.

[00:10:34]Like if you have to use, you take five minutes and and get back to work, but let people know around you that you're you're doing that.

[00:10:42]>> Cool.

[00:10:43]>> Thanks everyone.

[00:10:45]>> Yeah.

[00:10:46]>> See you then.

[00:10:47]>> Thank you.

[00:10:48]>> It's cool. They saved my life. I have ODed here. I I worked oil rigs for 9 years. Made a good living.

[00:10:56]Um the price of oil tanked, got laid off, >> and then my wife was killed. She was hit by a drunk driver, >> and uh doing down was easier than uh dealing with. Of course, at the time, I didn't realize the physical dependencies like that was something that was told about, but you don't quite grasp.

[00:11:26]Yeah. No, the only difference between even you and I, one bad decision.

[00:11:36]>> I never thought three years ago I would be pushing a shopping cart, missing half my teeth. And You can make so much money.

[00:11:56]>> Yeah.

[00:11:57]>> From such a small amount.

[00:11:58]>> Oh, totally.

[00:11:59]>> Because the labor cost involved in making heroin compared to the chemicals used to make fentinel. It's a no-brainer. You're going to go with fentinel.

[00:12:07]>> I I don't know. I I think the only way is to quit, >> basically.

[00:12:11]>> Yeah. But quitting is even more difficult because a lot harder.

[00:12:15]>> Yeah, it is. then to get off of uh fentanyl down >> than it is heroin. I used to be able to quit heroin cold turkey.

[00:12:21]>> I'd lock myself in my apartment for seven days.

[00:12:25]>> I'd have Netflix. I would have a fridge full of food and a big bag of weed and I would detox myself. It was hard, but I could do it. I tried to do that with fentinel and I would end up in the emergency room.

[00:12:52]Every year as chief medical health officer I do release a report and the focus of this year's report is the opioid overdose crisis. We are now into the fourth year of this crisis in British Columbia as you know and what we have found is that almost all uh the illegal opioids circulating uh in at least in Vancouver is contaminated with fentinel.

[00:13:30]It >> was a on one of the beaches.

[00:13:32]>> Yeah.

[00:13:33]>> Yeah. It was a small little dog. He uh ate something and they figured out what was happening and they naranded it.

[00:13:39]>> Wow.

[00:13:40]>> It's hot.

[00:13:41]>> It is hot.

[00:13:42]>> Yeah. But they gave him the nose one.

[00:13:44]>> Oh yeah.

[00:13:44]>> The nose spray nan.

[00:13:46]>> Yeah.

[00:13:46]>> Yeah. They brought this little puppy dog back to life.

[00:13:48]>> That's awesome.

[00:13:49]>> Yeah. It was fentanyl.

[00:13:50]>> Oh wow.

[00:13:51]>> It was on the news too.

[00:13:53]>> Yeah.

[00:13:54]>> Yeah. And it was a tiny little dog.

[00:13:57]>> Yeah, that's crazy truck, man.

[00:14:27]What's going on? You behaving?

[00:14:29]>> You better. You better.

[00:14:32]>> Oh, hey. Hey. Uh, are you using?

[00:14:36]>> What's your handle?

[00:14:40]>> What are you using?

[00:14:41]>> Uh, one.

[00:14:45]He's teaching me how to use a garbage a garbage thing. How much for this? Five.

[00:14:51]>> Five.

[00:14:51]>> All right.

[00:14:54]>> What do you need it for? Oh, is this for you? For for like an arm.

[00:14:59]>> You have three of them. Okay.

[00:15:01]>> We got a deal here.

[00:15:04]There you go. Deal.

[00:15:07]All right. Well, I better give you that five bucks now that I bought a garbage machine.

[00:15:12]>> Excuse me, guys.

[00:15:15]No, I got >> Nope.

[00:15:36]You >> stay breathing there, champ.

[00:15:42]>> Another deep breath. Right.

[00:15:43]>> Do you need an aloxxone kit?

[00:15:45]>> No, I have two in my bag.

[00:15:46]>> Two.

[00:15:48]>> Do you need a new one?

[00:15:49]>> It's only good until the till March.

[00:15:59]>> Influences as well. Um, Pavarotti, Andrea Pochelli, Scott Wyland.

[00:16:06]>> Wow.

[00:16:07]>> Eric Clapton.

[00:16:08]>> Yeah. Even though he's not known for singing, he's so he's so Yeah, he does.

[00:16:13]He's got the pretty amazing singing skills. Have you seen him at the karaoke?

[00:16:17]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:16:19]>> We did the duo. What were we singing?

[00:16:21]>> Um, we did um an album.

[00:16:28]>> I'm going to load up some more.

[00:16:30]>> My brother died of OD in 1998. There was no ops around.

[00:16:34]>> Yeah.

[00:16:34]>> And that's what brought me here. And um I was thinking that um I should get a job or volunteer to save people cuz I figured that's my call. So that's what got me to ops.

[00:16:50]>> Yeah. It's awesome that we can save people down here. You know, that's that's my passion because I lost so many friends down here and I overdosed myself when there when just came out as a drug.

[00:17:05]I was lucky. I was with a roommate, too.

[00:17:08]I wouldn't be here right now.

[00:17:10]>> Yeah.

[00:17:12]What is that? There's an >> O.

[00:17:21]>> I got it all here.

[00:17:30]>> Are you okay?

[00:17:32]>> Oh, yeah. He's good.

[00:17:34]>> Yeah. He's just out of it from the benzo do so dope that's down here. Fentanyl cut with benzo. It's a bad drug because they sleep for like 2 hours sometimes. Who knows how long, but yeah.

[00:17:51]>> This is my new nickname now. Oi Shinobi, master of the overdose.

[00:18:12]This wall means a lot to people in the community and um it's kind of always been a memorial wall. Like so many people have passed in this alleyway.

[00:18:22]Mostly when someone passes there's flowers and then they're gone the next day thrown out by city workers. So, you know, it's just sad to see all those those messages uh to loved ones get wiped away.

[00:18:35]Joe was one of our uh employees who passed last year around this time actually a year ago.

[00:18:41]>> And Rose was as well.

[00:18:43]>> Yeah, Rose was a employee. it past, you know, like it's lost so many people and uh continue to lose people in this crisis.

[00:18:55]We're just trying to do the best we can and commemorate those from the downtown east side.

[00:19:01]Um this is one of the best neighborhoods in the world and I don't I I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. So, I left it blank for people to add their own names.

[00:19:12]And then, you know, as you can see, we're running out of space for names, right? It just could go on and on and on.

[00:19:38]>> Yeah, we're uh close to done. through here.

[00:19:51]>> While I was uh tree planting, I did a I learned uh I had a lot of fun whistling.

[00:19:57]Um, I would learn whistles like um or uh but uh yeah, the most fun was warbling like uh Roger Whitaker. It's kind of like a or a Good job.

[00:20:53]Heat.

[00:21:16]Heat.

[00:21:47]Overdose prevention society.

[00:21:51]a place where you can overdose safely.

[00:21:57]If you're overdosing, lying panicked on the floor, don't worry. Some of us have also overdosed before.

[00:22:07]Take a big deep breath. The ambulance is on its way. No need to panic just cuz you can't breathe. We got knock kits and they're handing them out for free.

[00:22:22]OD overdose prevention society.

[00:22:50]You guys put that together.

[00:22:51]>> Yeah, it just sits on.

[00:22:53]>> Yeah.

[00:22:55]>> So, that one right there is the one that has the other rack is all empties. That one >> This one's full.

[00:23:01]>> Yeah. The top row is empties and everything below it. Why don't I help you?

[00:23:18]I brought down 13.

[00:23:20]>> Okay. Do you want 13 back?

[00:23:21]>> No. No. Just 12x.

[00:23:29]>> Jello. Falling asleep. All right.

[00:23:35]>> Steve, watch out. Hey.

[00:23:38]>> Hey, man. How's it going? Excuse me.

[00:23:43]>> Steve, >> you okay, man?

[00:23:48]>> Just just see what your uh >> uh he's a little low.

[00:23:51]>> Yeah.

[00:23:51]>> Keep reminding him to breathe.

[00:23:54]>> Take a deep breath, Steve. We don't want to nar you if we don't have to. That's why we're reminding you. Okay.

[00:24:01]>> Yeah.

[00:24:03]>> Check on Steve again. Hey, champ. Let me just put this oximter on you again quickly. Make sure.

[00:24:09]7.

[00:24:10]>> Okay, that's great.

[00:24:12]>> You're good, man.

[00:24:15]>> How do you know like if she would need it?

[00:24:17]>> If it's dropping like Steve's was below 90, if he's not rousable, you know, like and able to take a breath and bring it up a bit, then we got to be really concerned. If it starts to drop, then then we narrow.

[00:24:31]>> No film in our ass.

[00:24:34]you know, myself, Norma, all of our amazing peer workers, we care. When you've lived that and when you have people that you genuinely love suffering every day in the streets, then the motivation um to make programs better, to make people's actual lives better.

[00:24:50]It's just, you know, it seems to be a little a little deeper.

[00:24:53]>> Yeah. The best part of ops is, you know, this is a place where I'm accepted to use drugs and no one's going to judge me. And I can come in in the morning and they're freezing from the night before and we turn on the heat and turn on the music and Norm is telling a dirty joke and, you know, we're making the best of what we've got in the middle of a, you know, a crisis situation where people are dying.

[00:25:15]>> Yeah.

[00:25:15]>> And we're losing our friends.

[00:25:16]>> Exactly.

[00:25:17]>> And of course, we're unhappy. And of course, we spend a lot of time when we are alone, you know, thinking about it.

[00:25:23]And it's it's difficult. I don't think any of us could do it unless we, you know, had some glints of hope and and light and happiness and and fun and and that's how it should be, right?

[00:25:34]>> Important.

[00:25:34]>> All right, I'm going to go back upstairs. Um, you grab one more box of tourniquets and then I'll meet you guys upstairs.

[00:25:40]>> Yeah. Yeah, we'll grab some stuff. We could use some of these actually.

[00:25:43]>> Yeah, we had fun at the Halloween party.

[00:25:46]>> I was twerking with Trey. Oh my god.

[00:25:49]>> Now, is this the open button or is this one? That one's closed.

[00:25:52]>> That one's open.

[00:25:59]>> I'll blow this up here.

[00:26:01]>> Hey, Mars.

[00:26:02]>> Yeah.

[00:26:03]>> Did you see the Halloween party?

[00:26:04]>> No, not yet. I haven't.

[00:26:06]>> Watch Norma get We're getting low. Me and Norma getting low, down, and dirty.

[00:26:13]>> She grabs me here and starts ripping me around.

[00:26:16]Like, what the hell are you doing, girl?

[00:26:18]>> Yeah, that's awesome.

[00:26:27]>> Monster Masher.

[00:26:42]>> Did you look up Wy Coyote speaks?

[00:26:44]>> Yeah. Oh, this doesn't count. This is like a new one.

[00:26:47]>> Roadrunner speaks with signs. Wy Coyote sometimes speaks with signs, but he can talk.

[00:26:55]>> Allow me to introduce myself. My name is W E Coyote. Genius. You are a rabbit.

[00:27:01]And I >> I told you he talks. Fair enough.

[00:27:03]>> You win the You win something.

[00:27:07]>> Need that. Need that.

[00:27:16]Get over here.

[00:27:26]>> Oh, it's nice and clean up here.

[00:28:42]Hey Ron, >> let's get just try and relax. Okay.

[00:29:07]>> The half shot of our hat.

[00:29:13]>> His heart rate got pretty low.

[00:29:16]>> And uh blood oxygen.

[00:29:18]>> So you were injecting. Is that right?

[00:29:20]>> Yeah.

[00:29:22]>> Yeah. Was it down or were we using some up as well?

[00:29:26]>> I was just saying with the power chair here, if you're a friend, can you take it to where he stays? Otherwise, we'll be waiting like an hour for a wheelchair cap right now. So, I mean, we can keep it at our We're from the opposite.

[00:29:37]>> Yeah.

[00:29:38]>> Yeah.

[00:29:39]>> They'll take a chair. We'll put you in our bed >> and then you can come back and pick up the chair.

[00:29:44]>> Uh, should I do that with him or >> Okay.

[00:29:50]>> Yeah. Thank you guys.

[00:29:52]>> All right. Let's see. See the doctor, buddy.

[00:29:56]>> You got your pop.

[00:30:09]It can feel pretty hopeless.

[00:30:10]>> Yeah.

[00:30:11]>> And and I and not a lot of lateral movement like what am I going to do, right? It's pretty unique skill set, you know, >> right? Yeah.

[00:30:17]>> But the people in this community have lived here for a long time. I I really care like I've worked like been embedded in, >> you know, it's uh you know, it it makes a difference. It does. It makes a huge difference. Yeah. I think just the experience just being here, just being part of something that has purpose, you Do I don't know if we talked about that in that orientation, but um around um um uh part of the program is so often drug users are are are outcast and not given credit for being able to be like use their mind to to have solutions to major problems, major social.

[00:31:00]>> Yeah. All of that, right?

[00:31:17]Everyone doing all right?

[00:31:20]>> You having good [ __ ] >> It was easy. Good.

[00:31:27]>> Yeah, it's just I found that in the garbage. Oh [ __ ] dude.

[00:31:34]Is that is that Dana's like >> you guys got quite a gift.

[00:32:10]Go like this.

[00:32:12]And then a little loop toloop for the chin. And then around.

[00:32:17]>> Sarah, what are we going to say on this card?

[00:32:21]>> Thank you, Dana, for all your hard work.

[00:32:25]at ops.

[00:32:26]>> Yeah.

[00:32:27]>> Don't go turning blue on us.

[00:32:32]>> So cold.

[00:32:37]>> Don't go turning blue on us.

[00:32:40]>> You're wearing a horse mask.

[00:32:43]>> Hey, Norma.

[00:32:46]>> You got to sign it.

[00:32:48]>> I'm so proud of you. Keep up the good work.

[00:32:50]>> Awesome.

[00:32:51]>> Very proud of them.

[00:32:52]>> I am too.

[00:32:53]>> I'm super proud. I'm really proud.

[00:32:55]>> Everyone's proud of you.

[00:32:56]>> Come say hi to him for me.

[00:32:57]>> I will.

[00:32:58]>> Later, Smokey.

[00:33:03]>> Oh. Oh, you got some Tristan's artwork up here.

[00:33:06]>> Whoa.

[00:33:08]>> Yeah.

[00:33:08]>> Beautiful. It's not messy. It's not >> This isn't messy at all, Danny. You should see my room.

[00:33:13]>> Oh, this is really nice.

[00:33:15]>> I've got I've got a stunning view of downtown Vancouver.

[00:33:19]>> I watch the deals go down. I watch all sorts of people from work wander back and forth down the street. It's uh kind of awesome.

[00:33:29]>> We do have an oversized clown card.

[00:33:34]>> Thank you so much. Oh my gosh. We at Ops just wanted to say Papa Smurf. Oh my gosh. We love you. Don't go turning blue on us.

[00:33:47]Thank you for all the hard work you did at OPS. Congrats on being in treatment.

[00:33:52]Love always. Ricky off. Uh Trey, have you you spent time up here, right?

[00:33:58]>> Uh I never made it to the third floor. I only made it to the second floor and then I left.

[00:34:03]>> Okay. There's more rooms down this way.

[00:34:05]And our TV room is down this way.

[00:34:07]>> See what's in there?

[00:34:08]>> I got my soya milk in there.

[00:34:10]>> And this is good. Not yours. Don't [ __ ] touch. That's how you got to deal with things.

[00:34:14]>> Yeah. I came here because I was getting benzo, right? I was waking up in an alley. Trey saw me one night. Like I don't even remember seeing it.

[00:34:25]>> Awful, man.

[00:34:26]>> And I was a wreck. I ended up in a puddle that night with all my like my computer gone, my bag gone, my ID gone, not knowing where 12 hours had gone. And that wasn't the first time that it had happened. And that was when everything just went, I've I'm done. I I had enough. And it was pretty amazing. You guys got me in here super fast and I've done really well here. So, yeah. Thank you, sir.

[00:35:13]Someone died out front last night. Okay.

[00:35:17]Someone was uh sleeping beside him all night and kind of going, "He's fine.

[00:35:20]He's fine." And all that all that [ __ ] And then yeah, rough week, man.

[00:35:26]My girlfriend that I had for like 9 years, she um died of fentanyl like when it very first started coming out.

[00:35:33]And then my friends just started dying like left and right. So I just started doing memorials for everybody.

[00:35:40]Yeah. See, I did this one here. I did that. I did this. This This Johnny Ramos. Old school OG.

[00:35:47]>> Yeah, he's >> Yeah, I did all these ones here.

[00:35:50]>> And I did these ones over here, too.

[00:35:53]>> See the one guy here is like go deed on the ground, right?

[00:35:56]>> Yeah. See, this guy's on like go on the ground, right, with the needle and stuff. I still haven't finished it, right? And then this guy's got the Narcan kit or whatever. And he's going to save that guy's life, right? I've been down here for quite a while, actually. like 20 years or something like that on and off, right?

[00:36:14]>> Get in where you fit in. You know what I mean?

[00:36:35]Leafs have tied the game to the inside.

[00:37:05]So over 166 And especially if you're going to hobo, it's 20 bucks a gram. Who's going to buy that? Nobody.

[00:37:45]>> But on the street, it's five bucks a gram.

[00:37:47]>> Well, have you seen the [ __ ] on the street?

[00:37:49]>> No.

[00:37:50]>> Yeah. It's like a bag of [ __ ] >> that we're all kind of like going to the safer supply.

[00:37:55]>> Yeah. Safer supplying to to go that we all have the sort of the same plan.

[00:38:01]other opiates that are derived from the poppy plant as opposed to buying them from Fizer which sends them out to Turkey or Afghanistan to get their poppies.

[00:38:13]>> Overdose prevention sites have made a positive impact by saving lives.

[00:38:17]Far too often these overdose prevention sites get so busy and full people get turned away thus potentially using the loan which is more dangerous than has ever been. Today I call on the city to motion for a legal safer drug supply available.

[00:38:32]>> Our last speaker is Dana MCI uh from OPS.

[00:38:36]>> Thank you, Mayor Stewart and counselors for having me today. I am 14 days into recovery. It's been incredibly helpful.

[00:38:44]I'm feeling great. I also work with Sarah at OPS. Uh I'm one of the managers. A lot of people are suffering uh severe trauma from seeing very violent overdoses, very severe overdoses, and even death. Uh one of our workers is currently on leave due to seeing uh sadly somebody die. And to be brought out to an overdose where somebody that you saved on a number of occasions is now dead is extremely traumatizing. We were also hoping today to talk about a 24-hour ops location people are using alone by themselves on the street when they could be inside an ops location and we would have saved them. But as the death indicated the death behind Pigeon Park 4 days ago, that's not always the case.

[00:39:44]Thank you very much for coming on this >> in some manner. I was always like undermployed.

[00:39:58]There was always this desire to have meaning and compassion and those things lined up a bit right. You know, people struggle to find meaning, to have meaning in their life and experience a lot of despair and and mental illness in in reaction to that, right? So, I know in my own life, training at Insight was a really profound aha moment for me. It was like this is why I'm here. Like from moment one, it was it was and I I entered as a skeptic about harm reduction and oh, letting people use drugs. Shouldn't we be getting them to stop and all that [ __ ] And and like immediately profoundly was like this this is right. This is just this is amazing. So to me it's not that strange that like if I experience that that people who are marginalized through drug use, through poverty and homelessness and physical and mental illness and all of that stuff, you say this is meaningful. I don't it's not as if I have to convince them. We know, right?

[00:40:59]because there was a crisis and we responded. We know and that meaning is is not something you take for granted, right?

[00:41:07]>> Can you talk a bit about the care model at Ops, how it differs from the other sites you've worked at and like maybe how staff burnout plays a part in it?

[00:41:15]>> Yeah.

[00:41:17]When I've been working nights, it's all I do is work and sleep, right?

[00:41:22]And and how that just like does not drive wellness for me at all. and uh I go home and cocoon and then sleep as much as I'm I can't wind down very well and then I sleep and then it's oh it's time to go to work, right? And um what experience has emphasized for me is the sustainability how it's hard to do this over the long haul. I've burnt out in the past. I' I've witnessed other co colleagues burn out and and how we care for that is a major question. you know, in some ways we've engaged really dark places willingly, right? Um, and some without choice. A lot of like that's the unique thing about the drug user is that they haven't had much of a choice to engage that that the trauma, the grief, the loss of this crisis, let alone what their personal experience of their own life and their their own trauma and grief and loss. And yet our staff don't get to be world changers, right? Like so many people in drug use, they're shunned from community engagement and shunned from uh being recognized as as as as significant. And yet here we are, right?

[00:42:50]Run away.

[00:42:56]We're, you know, an essential life-saving service, a program that provides stabilization for people, but to create connectedness, then that's sort of that's sort of an extra like so people who either don't have an experience of family, that's positive.

[00:43:13]Some people who do, but there's distance, right, or loss. And now we're the are we have become the the family like right I can identify that individually like last summer when I was away in Ontario. I I I vowed on the plane go home and rest and just be chill and relax and everything will get busy tomorrow. Just don't and I'm like no I'm going to go into work and uh I met Megan for lunch but I wanted like like I wanted to hug everyone and we were excited to um see each other right.

[00:43:48]Yeah, >> our community kitchen.

[00:43:55]>> Thank you so much, you guys.

[00:43:57]>> Yeah, you're welcome, Megan.

[00:44:03]>> Aloneeness is a major driver of of addiction, right? And so to create a sense of community and family, um to me that's I don't know. That's super exciting, right?

[00:44:32]Just a little bit of I'm glad you guys enjoy it.

[00:45:21]When I got there, it was like a bunch of police and then it was tapered off. But then I didn't realize that that was the body. It just looked like a piece of trash.

[00:45:30]>> Yeah.

[00:45:31]>> You know what I mean?

[00:45:32]>> Yes.

[00:45:32]>> I mean, I don't know. That was someone's son.

[00:45:36]>> It's just so sad.

[00:45:38]>> It's just awful.

[00:45:40]>> You go, "Okay, I'm coming in on Monday.

[00:45:42]Someone's dead in the front. Okay." You know, this or that.

[00:45:46]>> Yeah.

[00:45:50]>> I don't know if the neighborhood's going to make it. I honestly don't. And it breaks my heart. But in the mainstream world, people believe that this isn't that big of a problem because it's only happening to those people.

[00:46:01]>> Yeah.

[00:46:02]>> Not us. And that's the same separation that we we enact every day. Right. So, we've lost any ability to communicate.

[00:46:10]It seems to be more and more difficult to translate what people actually live like and what they go through and how they die. I mean, it's and it's and it's, you know, it's incomprehensible and therefore un unaddressable.

[00:46:26]Um, people feel like it's not their concern.

[00:46:30]>> [ __ ] sucks.

[00:46:33]>> Just went to an NA meeting with them like a week ago. It's so [ __ ] up.

[00:46:43]>> The Death Star, right? There was so much new stuff that wasn't given background in the internet.

[00:46:48]>> Fair enough. Fair enough.

[00:46:49]>> Yeah. It drove me nuts.

[00:46:51]>> Yeah. We knew from like the get-go with Attack of the Clones and when Palpatine first showed up when he became Emperor, we knew that he had all these like ways to turn back time. They had the ability to be able to pull something like that off.

[00:47:08]>> Well, the Death Star was capable of blowing up planets, too, right? But it was the death start and it just went back and forth and then you know Kylo Ren is a good guy, Kylo Ren's a bad guy.

[00:47:18]>> Yeah, he didn't even get into Ren.

[00:47:21]>> Hey Sarah, I'm going to take this puppy up to Ron at the hospital.

[00:47:28]Uh, it's got a full charge on it.

[00:47:32]There we go.

[00:47:34]>> Oh [ __ ] >> Coming through. Excuse me. Hey, how's it going?

[00:47:39]Just bringing a friend his wheelchair. I don't know if I'm going to make it.

[00:47:44][ __ ] Off road. Beep beep. So, yeah.

[00:47:48]Actually, ironically, this was the first place I ever ever used heroin was the old backpackers hostel right here. Hey, what's up, bro?

[00:47:58]Can I get on the bus? Hey, thanks, man.

[00:48:03][ __ ] [ __ ] This thing is hard to maneuver.

[00:48:09]>> I think that was Thanksgiving weekend 2014. I got 30 days. I served 20 with good behavior. I got out and then I was arrested again.

[00:48:21]>> I called my mom from the jail phone and I was like, I need to get out of the downtown east side. She's like, your kid's been in foster care for three and a half years. your dad's dying of heart failure and I got stomach cancer and breast cancer. So, she's like, "You know what?" She's like, "I'm pretty sure I got this cancer because all I do is think about you and worry about you and I wanted you here while I was going through cancer treatment so that I could sleep."

[00:48:53]She's like, "I knew you weren't going to stop using." She's like, "I just wanted you in my house even though I knew you were using so I could get one good night's sleep.

[00:49:03]And uh I kept using you know um despite all that >> street I'm getting out here driver. Thank you.

[00:49:36]Hello. Could you help me find my friend Ron McKenzie? I'm just bringing him his wheelchair.

[00:49:41]>> Um, once you bring in his wheelchair, he's going to leave.

[00:49:44]>> Uhoh.

[00:49:44]>> Can I hide it here for him?

[00:49:46]>> Hide it. Yeah, let's hide it. You can just drive in there.

[00:49:49]>> I'll lock it back up.

[00:49:53]>> Hey there, young man.

[00:49:54]>> Yeah, right. Now in the tanks are coming. Tell me you brought my chair.

[00:49:58]>> Uh it's on its way.

[00:50:00]>> Excellent. Excellent.

[00:50:01]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:50:02]>> Yeah. Just bring it to Tennessee. Well, you know where you where you came.

[00:50:05]>> Yeah.

[00:50:06]>> Everything will be cool.

[00:50:07]>> Yeah. Don't don't leave too fast, man.

[00:50:10]Like >> stay here as long as you need.

[00:50:13]>> Oh, yeah. Definitely.

[00:50:14]>> Yeah.

[00:50:15]>> Uh is there anything else you need like taken care of or anything? Like >> no.

[00:50:20]>> Okay. I'll be here tomorrow and I can go up to Denny's on my way and I'll get you a Denny's milkshake.

[00:50:25]>> Oh, really?

[00:50:26]>> Yeah. Yeah. How's that sound?

[00:50:27]>> Cool.

[00:50:28]>> All right.

[00:50:34]>> Thanks for coming.

[00:50:35]>> All right, Ron. I'll come visit you tomorrow. Okay.

[00:50:38]>> All right.

[00:51:14]Guys, one night approximately 5 years ago.

[00:51:29]Oh, that guy Ron's chair.

[00:51:32]>> Trey took Ron's chair up to the hospital.

[00:51:34]>> Yeah, I'm I'm hoping they'll keep him in the hospital. He could hardly breathe.

[00:51:37]He was >> Ron, the guy in the wheelchair, >> yeah.

[00:51:47]Um so Operation Medusa basically we had Hashmal in the center 1500 Taliban in there. We're split up into two B uh two battalions and uh basically one of us was going to be a hammer and the other one the anvil. I was with Bravo Company um four platoon. We were known as the Nomads and we even had Nomads patches because we spent so much time roaming around the desert without a home or a Ford operating base. Right. So anyway, um during Medusa, my friend Josh Kluki, God bless his soul, September 29th, 2006, we were we were a machine gun team, like the two of us. He was my assistant gunner, right? So we were really close.

[00:52:35]But um all I remember was there was this big cracking sound, like thunder, and then I blacked out. What had happened is I stepped on the pressure plate detonator and set it off and Josh just happened to be three meters um to my six.

[00:52:52]>> Holy [ __ ] >> U right where the charge was buried and they figured the charge was probably about 8 1055 howitzer shells buried in the ground and wired together, right? It's it's a lot simpler to use that than make up a bunch of C4.

[00:53:12]So, I got his initials here. Rest in peace JK Josh Pooky. And that's his rifle, his boots, and his helmet.

[00:53:20]>> And the mountain that was right there in the background from this Muslim guard.

[00:53:28]>> Jeez, man.

[00:53:30]I So, I appreciate you uh letting me carry a bit of that story with you.

[00:53:37]>> You all right?

[00:53:40]Thank you, man.

[00:53:43]>> Yeah.

[00:53:44]>> Yeah, man. You stay safe.

[00:53:45]>> Yeah, I will.

[00:53:46]>> Stay sane and stay safe.

[00:53:48]>> Forget it.

[00:54:03]>> 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005.

[00:54:13]When you're there and you're just doing it, you don't even think. You just you're just going. It's only afterwards when you sit down and take a deep breath and have a glass of water or whatever that you kind of realize, holy smokes, this is hard work.

[00:54:29]>> Yeah, pretty intense, man.

[00:54:33]>> Hi.

[00:54:35]Struggling.

[00:54:36]You might have to put my hand on your shoulder.

[00:54:39]>> Sorry you're going through that. Glad you're here though.

[00:54:44]>> Has anyone seen Jello take a breath there?

[00:54:49]>> Closed in 25 minutes.

[00:54:54]>> Uh 25 minutes.

[00:54:58]>> I just don't want to leave it lying around. Right.

[00:55:01]>> Fingers and toesies in. I'm closing the door. You're good. You're just stuck on a on a rig. This is our our hazmat compacting system.

[00:55:13]>> Yeah, the prototype works, but uh it's in a development stage right now.

[00:55:27]>> Okay. Ready?

[00:55:29]>> Where are you going?

[00:55:31]>> Just outside. I got >> Do you want me to keep going with you?

[00:55:40]>> And then >> Hey, h how are you?

[00:55:49]>> What?

[00:55:51]>> Oh, awesome.

[00:55:56]>> He's got no [ __ ] big clothes on, no socks, no shoes, right? totally all [ __ ] up.

[00:56:04]>> Come back say that $5.

[00:56:07]Yeah.

[00:56:12]>> Are you trying to go under that? Uh, >> okay.

[00:56:16]>> What's that?

[00:56:25]>> Okay. You tell me. Are you good here?

[00:56:27]You got it, right?

[00:56:28]>> Okay. You take care, huh? Good night, hun.

[00:57:11]heroin distribution program.

[00:57:14]They've all been longtime heroin users.

[00:57:17]They've had zero overdose deaths. We have to clean up this poison drug supply today. We don't need to be marching here again and again and again, hanging on to blind old ideologies that keep people stuck. We have to learn to connect and reunite as people. You know, our teachers are all around us. the earth, the air, the water, the sky. They give life to each and every one of us indiscriminately. They don't judge, you know. They support one another with life.

[00:58:00]the founder of the an overdose prevention society, uh, Sarah.

[00:58:05]Yay. Uh, thanks everybody for coming out today, uh, in this march. I I don't even really know what to say. It's so sad what we're going through as a community right now. We can't handle any more people dying down here. We're losing our friends and family every day. uh the peers that are on the front lines.

[00:58:26]>> Yeah.

[00:58:30]>> They are they are saving lives every day, all day, every day. And it's hard on them. So, we need to give them love and and help.

[00:58:45]>> We need to give them support.

[00:58:54]history.

[00:59:11]Woo!

[00:59:22]The sound of siren dwells me to sleep at night as well as waking me in the morning, beckoning me to rise and prepare for the day ahead. My disashion accessories are my narcan kits and oximters. I miss the day of jewelry and hats. Life in the downtown east side during the overdose crisis is rot with sirens piercing the den of everyday life. I see blue people. It's the blooper of the oxygen deprived, the overdosing, the dying. I've lost count of how many friends I've lost, and I've forgotten how many memorials I've attended. But what I will never forget, as much as I want to, are the body bags wheeled out from SRO's and public washrooms. Those memories are etched on my brain forever. And all the while, the melancholy melody of the sirens plays on. To me though, the downtown east side is a community of angels. Angels in the form of the beautifully broken.

[01:00:31]Okay.

[01:00:39]Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in.

[01:00:42]Brea out. Brea out. He flew his mind out in a car.

[01:00:51]>> He didn't notice that the lights had changed.

[01:00:58]A crowd of people stood in.

[01:01:04]>> They'd seen his face before. Nobody was really sure.

[01:01:13]I straight like I love I love >> I love Thank you.

[01:01:53]>> Jean got your number jean.

[01:02:22]territory of the Saudis First Nations. I want to uh start by acknowledging the news today from the coroner's office of a record month of opioid deaths here in British Columbia.

[01:02:35]175 people have left us. Those are our sons, our daughters, our fathers, our mothers, our brothers, our sisters. The poison drug supply has intensified. I want to lift my hands to those frontline workers.

[01:02:55]I I started uh keeping a list and then it it was getting to be a little bit too much for me. But um there have been over 130 people in the past 4 years that I've known personally that have died.

[01:03:12]Like it feels a bit hopeless and desparing, right?

[01:03:20]It's just gone on too long. You know, you can't do it forever. You can do it for a while.

[01:03:36]Hello.

[01:03:39]And so you're looking for him like he's missing.

[01:03:45]I'm sorry to hear that. Um I know I know he's been struggling, right?

[01:03:53]Yeah. But yeah, I haven't seen him. I haven't seen them in over a week.

[01:04:18]>> Just read whenever.

[01:04:19]>> Um, I'm just going to cue you when to go.

[01:04:22]>> All right. if you want to like give it a look over and then whenever you're ready.

[01:04:27]>> Vancouver is in a state of emergency.

[01:04:30]People are dying every day from an unregulated contaminated drug supply.

[01:04:35]Thousands of people have lost their lives to a drug supply poisoned with fentinol, a chief synthetic opioid detected in the majority of overdose deaths. We call upon health professionals, all levels of government, and the public to join us in advocating for a safe supply of drugs to protect and prevent further loss of our family members, friends, neighbors, and loved ones.

[01:05:01]>> Got it. Thanks, >> Ronnie.

[01:05:13]lay your card, you know, just something nice in your card, you know, all the stuff.

[01:05:22]>> Oh, Sarah, want to sign mom's card?

[01:05:25]>> Oh, that's nice.

[01:05:26]>> We're going to miss him.

[01:05:39]>> Yeah.

[01:05:41]>> I am. And there was just a little kurfuffle out front. You guys, >> I'd like to present you this award on behalf of all the office staff. We love you, Lonnie. Here you go.

[01:05:52]>> That's so amazing. A >> What does it say?

[01:05:57]>> It says, "The Overdose Prevention Society prevents this outstanding service award to Ronnie Grigg, the Narcan Jesus."

[01:06:06]>> Look at that. There's even a picture of him there. Look at him.

[01:06:10]That's so beautiful. Thank you guys.

[01:06:13]>> Always been an inspiration and I'm going to miss you, brother.

[01:06:16]>> I'm really going to miss you.

[01:06:17]>> I'll miss you, too.

[01:06:19]>> There's a there's, you know, something in my heart that is is a loss as well.

[01:06:22]But I'm so grateful for all of you in this place and Sarah for this opportunity and Megan for your support.

[01:06:29]It's uh um changed me for the better.

[01:06:33]Thank you for this. Thank you for acknowledging and honoring the effort you put into it. I really appreciate it.

[01:06:39]We expect uh photos and stuff on Facebook.

[01:06:42]>> Yes.

[01:06:43]>> Of you uh free in the wilderness running >> in your natural state.

[01:06:47]>> In your natural beauty.

[01:06:48]>> In your natural environment.

[01:06:50]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[01:06:51]>> Yeah. Thank you, Ron.

[01:06:53]>> Thank you. Thank you.

[01:06:55]>> My name is Don Durban. I'm a elder of Sou First Nations. My cultural name is man in the light. Hiska heska to the the Northshore peoples and my relatives and my friends and the muscuan peoples also for allowing us to have this run this facility and uh and help the people we've been able to help including myself and others and the wonderful job Ronnie's done. Hka seeka.

[01:07:16]>> Thank you Don.

[01:07:54]Yeah, it's just time. You know, I've been doing this for a long time, right?

[01:07:57]>> Yeah. No doubt.

[01:07:58]>> 10 years.

[01:08:00]>> Yeah. And so I'd like to take my foot off the pedal a little bit if I'm able.

[01:08:07]>> So, um, yeah.

[01:08:08]>> Cool.

[01:08:09]>> Well, you're looking for Ron.

[01:08:12]>> Yeah.

[01:08:12]>> Ron McKenzie. He passed away.

[01:08:16]>> Oh my goodness. That night out here, I thought he was dying that very moment.

[01:08:22]Yeah, there was a log not to insight about it and everyone's super sad. I'm sorry if >> I'd rather know then.

[01:08:32]>> Yeah, thanks Megan. She is after Okay.

[01:09:01]>> Stay well, my friend.

[01:09:02]>> I love you, too.

[01:09:06]>> Great.

[01:09:07]>> Yeah. You're an awesome woman.

[01:09:08]>> Bye.

[01:09:09]>> Thank you.

[01:09:10]>> Done here.

[01:09:11]>> Thank you for everything.

[01:09:13]>> Do you know tears and no all the best and I'll see you I'll see you again.

[01:09:19]>> Okay, >> Jeff. Stay solid, bro. Can I give you a hug, Mars?

[01:09:24]>> That's what I'm trying to do.

[01:09:28]>> Just stay safe.

[01:09:29]>> You know, I'll I'll be around.

[01:09:33]Just stay safe. All right.

[01:09:40]Stay well. Okay.

[01:09:47]Come visit us.

[01:09:48]>> I will. I will.

[01:10:06]I get up.

[01:10:41]Hallelujah.

[01:11:00]I just don't know, you know, the overall effect of this on people. And so, you know, you get burnt out by how could people just not do what needs to be done. and well, we're having to suffer through this and talk to mothers and parents that have lost children or children who've lost their parents that have to now go into foster care and all these kinds of terrible situations that I hear every day. And um it's just it's heartbreaking on a daily basis.

[01:11:27]>> You hope that someday somebody, you know, grasps it at a high enough level that they just say, "I'm going to do whatever the hell it takes to make this right and we're going to try everything." Um so yeah.

[01:11:44]Okay, awesome. That'd be great.

[01:11:50]All right, bye.

[01:12:10]I just wanted to dedicate it to all the people who have lost brothers or sisters to alcohol or drugrelated deaths. This one's for you. Comes in the heart.

[01:12:21]In the twilight glow, I see her blue eyes crying in the rain.

[01:12:39]And when we kissed you goodbye and parted, I knew we'd never meet again.

[01:12:57]Love is like a dying ember.

[01:13:06]And only memories remain through the ages.

[01:13:19]I remember blue eyes crying in the rain.

[01:13:37]Yeah.

[01:13:55]Good night.

[01:14:27]Heat. Heat.

[01:14:32]Heat. Heat.

[01:14:54]Heat. Heat.