Reports, Case Studies, and Oral Histories
⬤ Vancouver’s Alcohol Knowledge Exchange: Lessons Learned from Creating a Peer-Involved Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (2023)
Bailey et al. (Harm Reduction Journal)
⬤ Final Financial Report for OUR STREETS Services (2022)
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU)
⬤ We Are Somebody: Drug User Liberation Movement from the Grassroots (2021)
BC and Yukon Association of Drug War Survivors
⬤ The Synthetic Opioid Epidemic and the Need for Mental Health Support for First Responders Who Intervene in Overdose Cases (2018)
Jozaghi et al. (Canadian Journal of Public Health)
⬤ Activism and Scientific Research: 20 Years of Community Action by The Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (2018)
Jozaghi et al. (Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy)
⬤ Back to the Core: A Network Approach to Bolster Harm Reduction among Persons Who Inject Drugs (2018)
Bouchard et al. (International Journal of Drug Policy)
⬤ “They Treated Me Like Crap and I Know It Was Because I Was Native”: The Healthcare Experiences of Aboriginal Peoples Living in Vancouver’s Inner City (2017)
Goodman et al. (Social Science & Medicine)
⬤ Ethics, Research, and Advocacy: The Experiences of the NAOMI Patients Association in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (2017)
Boyd et al. (University of Toronto Press)
⬤ Telling Our Stories: Heroin-Assisted Treatment and SNAP Activism in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver (2017)
Boyd et al. (Harm Reduction Journal)
⬤ Peer Engagement Principles and Best Practices: A Guide for BC Health Authorities and Other Providers (2017)
Greer et al. (Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies)
⬤ The Lessons Learned from The Fentanyl Overdose Crises in British Columbia, Canada (2017)
Thomson et al. (Addiction)
⬤ Missing the Trends in the Fentanyl Overdose Crisis: The Need for Immediate Intervention in Small and Rural Communities (2017)
Ehsan Jozaghi and Samona Marsh (Canadian Journal of Public Health)
⬤ Community-Based Participatory Research in a Heavily Researched Inner City Neighbourhood: Perspectives of People Who Use Drugs on Their Experiences as Peer Researchers (2017)
Damon et al. (Social Science & Medicine)
⬤ Peer-Engagement and its Role in Reducing the Risky Behavior among Crack and Methamphetamine Smokers of the Downtown Eastside Community of Vancouver, Canada (2016)
Jozaghi et al. (Harm Reduction Journal)
⬤ Results of a Participatory Needs Assessment Demonstrate an Opportunity to Involve People Who Use Alcohol in Drug User Activism and Harm Reduction (2016)
Crabtree et al. (Harm Reduction Journal)
⬤ “About Nothing Without Us”: A Comparative Analysis of Autonomous Organizing Among People Who Use Drugs and Psychiatrized Groups in Canada (2016)
Christopher B. R. Smith (Intersectionalities)
⬤ Peer Engagement in Harm Reduction Strategies and Services: Findings from a BC Case Study, 2010-2014 (2016)
Greer et al. (BMC Public Health)
⬤ Life Won’t Wait: Naloxone and Drug Overdose Prevention in British Columbia (2015)
Jordan Allen Westfall (Simon Fraser University)
⬤ “We Need Somewhere to Smoke Crack”: An Ethnographic Study of an Unsanctioned Safer Smoking Room in Vancouver, Canada (2015)
McNeil et al. (International Journal of Drug Policy)
⬤ “It’s Powerful to Gather”: A Community-Driven Study of Drug Users’ and Illicit Drinkers’ Priorities for Harm Reduction and Health Promotion in British Columbia, Canada (2015)
Alexis Crabtree (University of British Columbia)
⬤ Exploring the Role of an Unsanctioned, Supervised Peer Driven Injection Facility in Reducing HIV and Hepatitis C Infections in People that Require Assistance during Injection (2015)
Ehsan Jozaghi and VANDU (Health and Justice)
⬤ The Role of Peer Drug Users’ Social Networks and Harm Reduction Programs in Changing the Dynamics of Life for People Who Use Drugs in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, Canada (2015)
Ehsann Jozaghi (Simon Fraser University)
⬤ “People Knew They Could Come Here To Get Help”: An Ethnographic Study of Assisted Injection Practices at a Peer-Run ‘unsanctioned’ Supervised Drug Consumption Room in a Canadian Setting (2014)
McNeil et al. (AIDS and Behaviour)
⬤ A Cost-Benefit/Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of an Unsanctioned Supervised Smoking Facility in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, Canada (2014)
Ehsan Jozaghi and VANDU (Harm Reduction Journal)
⬤ Negotiating Place and Gendered Violence in Canada’s Largest Open Drug Scene (2014)
McNeil et al. (International Journal of Drug Policy)
⬤ Jaywalking to Jail: Capitalism, Mass Incarceration and Social Control on the Streets of Vancouver (2014)
Aiyanas Ormond (Radical Criminology)
⬤ Barriers to Safer Injection Practices Faced by People Who Use Injection Drugs, in Vancouver and Abbotsford, B.C. (2013)
Grant et al. (UBC Medical Journal)
⬤ ‘On the Same Level’: Facilitators’ Experiences Running a Drug User-Led Safer Injecting Education Campaign (2013)
Callon et al. (Harm Reduction Journal)
⬤ The Impact of Environmental Factors on Risk, Harm, And Health Care Access Among People Who Inject Drugs (2013)
Ryan McNeil (University of British Columbia)
⬤ The Injection Support Team: A Peer-Driven Program to Address Unsafe Injecting in a Canadian Setting (2012)
Small et al. (Substance Use & Misuse)
⬤ NAOMI Research Survivors: Experiences and Recommendations (2012)
North American Opiate Medication Initiative (NAOMI)
⬤ B.C. Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program: A Qualitative Systems Review – Summary Report (2011)
Tessa Parkes and Dan Reist (Centre for Addictions Research B.C.)
⬤ VANDU MANIFESTO for a Drug User Liberation Movement (2010)
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU)
⬤ B.C. Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program: A Qualitative Systems Review – Draft (2010)
Tessa Parkes (Centre for Addictions Research B.C.)
⬤ We’re All Pedestrians: Final Report of the Downtown Eastside Pedestrian Safety Project (2010)
Lani Russwurm and Don Buchanan (VANDU)
⬤ Harm Reduction: the Advocacy of Science and the Science of Advocacy (2010)
Gerry Stimson
⬤ Methadone Maintenance Treatment in British Columbia, 1996-2008 – Analysis and Recommendations (2010)
Centre for Addictions Research B.C
⬤ Drug Situation in Vancouver Report (2009)
Urban Health Research Initiative of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
⬤ Smoking of Crack Cocaine as a Risk Factor for HIV Infection Among People Who Use Injection Drugs (2009)
DeBeck et al. (Canadian Medical Association Journal)
⬤ Cocaine Cutting Agents: Do You Know What You’re Snorting? (2009)
Donald F. Legatt (University of Alberta)
⬤ Incarceration Not Found to Deter Drug Use (2009)
B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
⬤ Ibogaine: A Story of My Life and Years (2009)
Howard S. Lotsof (Dora Weiner Foundation)
⬤ Evaluation Report: Pacific Summit on Drug User Health (2009)
Thomas Kerr and Andrea Krusi
⬤ Health Status of People Who Use Illicit Drugs in British Columbia (2009)
VANDU (Pacific Summit on Drug User Health)
⬤ Economic Fact Sheet: Facts and Figures Relating to Illegal Drugs (2008)
Mark Haden (Vancouver Coastal Health)
⬤ Modelling An Effective Process to Control Bedbugs in the Downtown Eastside: VANDU Pilot Project Phase II (2008)
Anne O’Neil (VANDU)
⬤ The Journey to Compassionate Care (2007)
Susan C. Boyd
⬤ Drug Users’ Charter of Rights (2007)
Russell Newcombe (Lifeline, U.K)
⬤ A 25 Year Quagmire: The War on Drugs and its Impact on American Society (2007)
Mark Mauer and Ryan S. King (Sentencing Project)
⬤ Drug Busts – Data from Police Reports of Drug Offences (1997-2007)
Statistics Canada Police Reports
⬤ Prison Needle Exchange: Review of the Evidence (2006)
Public Health Agency of Canada
⬤ Harm Reduction by a ‘User-Run’ Organization: A Case Study of VANDU (2006)
Kerr et al. (International Journal of Drug Policy)
⬤ Speaking Truth to Power: The Role of Drug Users in Influencing Municipal Drug Policy (2006)
Bud Osborn and Will Small (International Journal of Drug Policy)
⬤ Vancouver Drug Users’ Group Assists Users with Injecting in Order to Reduce HIV Transmission (2005)
Drug Reform Coordination Network
⬤ Harm Reduction Activism: A Case Study of an Unsanctioned User-Run Safe Injection Site (2004)
Kerr et al. (Canadian HIV/AIDS Policy and Law Review)
⬤ Evaluation of the Supervised Injection Site: Year One Summary (2004)
British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
⬤ Creating Vectors of Disease Prevention: Empowering Networks of Drug Users (2004)
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU)
⬤ Abusing the User: Police Misconduct, Harm Reduction and HIV/AIDS in Vancouver (2003)
Joanne Csete and Jonathan Cohen (HRW)
⬤ CHASE Annual Report – Executive Summary (2003)
Community Health and Safety Evaluation (CHASE)
⬤ A Community Action Program Year End Report (2003)
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU)
⬤ BC Coroners Service: Database Figures for British Columbia Illicit Drug Overdoses (1995 – 2001)
Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General
⬤ Responding to an Emergency: A Case Study of Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (2001)
Kerr et al. (Health Canada – Hepatitis C Division)
VANDU’s Peer-Reviewed Projects
⬤ The Injection Support Team: A Peer-Driven Program to Address Unsafe Injecting in a Canadian Setting
Small W, Wood E, Tobin D, Rikley J, Lapushinsky D, Kerr T.
Substance Use & Misuse, 2012; 47(5): 491–501.
⬤ An External Evaluation of a Peer-Run Outreach-Based Syringe Exchange in Vancouver
Hayashi K, Wood E, Wiebe L, Qi J, Kerr T.
International Journal of Drug Policy, 2010; 21(5): 418-421.
⬤ A Description of a Peer-Run Supervised Injection Site for Injection Drug Users
Kerr T, Oleson M, Tyndall MW, Montaner J, Wood E.
Journal of Urban Health, 2005; 82(2): 267-275.
⬤ An External Evaluation of a Peer-Run “Unsanctioned” Syringe Exchange Program
Wood E, Kerr T, Spittal PM, Small W, Tyndall MW, O’Shaughnessy MV, Schechter MT.
Journal of Urban Health, 2003; 80(3): 455-464.
News Stories and Multimedia
⬤ Straight Issues: Jenny Kwan Wants PM to Back Off Supervised-Injection Site
Charlie Smith, The Georgia Straight, June 5, 2008
⬤ Fighter for Addicts Ready to Quit: Ann Livingston of VANDU is Wearied by Death
Sarah Ripplinger, The Tyee, Dec. 13, 2007
⬤ Activists Plan ‘Safe Site’ for Drug Smokers
Monte Paulsen, The Tyee, Feb. 5, 2007
⬤ New Injection Sites Stalled
Matthew Burrows, The Georgia Straight, Sept. 21, 2006
⬤ An Island Called Insite
Elaine Briere, The Tyee, Sept. 8, 2006
⬤ Where Carla and Wayne Shoot Up
Elaine Briere, The Tyee, Sept. 7, 2006
⬤ Injection Site Gets Reprieve
Charlie Smith, The Georgia Straight, Sept. 1, 2006
⬤ Cop’s Report States How Much Drug Users Spend
Charlie Smith, The Georgia Straight, Oct. 14, 2004
⬤ Baffling Brain Ailment Hits Heroin Smokers
Charlie Smith, The Georgia Straight, Jan. 21, 2004
⬤ Militants Opened Safe Injection Site 3 Weeks Ago
Frances Bula, Vancouver Sun, April 30, 2003
⬤ Four Pillars Drug Strategy
City of Vancouver
Research and Drug User Liberation
The following has been developed by the Board of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users
Research and the Drug War
▢ The drug war didn’t start because of a lack of research or ‘bad’ research and we don’t think it will end because of ‘good’ research. The active struggle of people oppressed by drug war policies, fighting for their liberation will be the decisive factor in ending the drug war. Researchers can play a positive role when they act as supporters, allies and partners of this movement for liberation.
▢ Research is political. Research is shaped by funding, by the career aspirations of researchers, by the political tendencies of research institutions, by government funding and intervention, by peer pressure and by class, racial and gender biases.
▢ The relationship between the researcher and the researched is not in and of itself empowering or liberating. It only becomes so when organized movements of the oppressed group play an active role in shaping and carrying out the research.
▢ Researchers should leave the organizations of oppressed people that they work with stronger than when they came in, if they don’t they are part of the problem and not part of the solution.
Principles for Researchers Working with VANDU
▢ Research should be consistent with our principles of achieving social justice.
▢ If researchers want to work with us they should really become allies of our movement. That means supporting our movement with your research but also as a citizen!
▢ Please familiarize yourself with the VANDU website, mission statement and other materials to try to understand our work before you ask us to participate in your research project.
▢ We (VANDU Board) want to know where every cent of funding is coming from and where it is going (financial transparency).
▢ VANDU members must be included whenever research we were involved in is presented.
▢ VANDU representatives who participate in research should be supported to develop research skills and know-how. Please make an effort to include VANDU members in various ways consistent with their unique capacities.
▢ Where the ‘peer’ involved in the research has the capacity, try to involve them in all aspects of the research, not just one small part.
▢ Researchers should make an effort to democratize the language you use, by using plain language and respecting that people who use drugs are whole human beings, not just research subjects.
▢ We want to see the research – in progress – to give feedback.
▢ Present us with an explanation and action plan on how the research will contribute to the empowerment and liberation of people who use drugs.
▢ If you are a researcher and you say that you are on the side of the oppressed and that you want to make positive changes, your first responsibility (as a researcher) is to work with the most representative, democratic and active organizations of the oppressed group to make sure that your research supports their work, or ask how it can.
▢ Being involved in the research should move more people into action and strengthen the existing organizations of the oppressed.
Elements of the Research Agreement
▢ VANDU may charge a processing fee to consider the research proposal.
▢ Researchers must provide a written description of their project in plain language to be considered by the board, before the researcher will be invited to meet with the board.
▢ We want to see a budget for the project including all revenues and expenditures. This should include all funding sources for the research, including government, foundation and industry funding.
▢ Stipends have to go through VANDU, the Board must agree on the stipends for the research project, and VANDU staff or designated representatives will do the payouts.
▢ We expect researchers to include a room rental and administration fee where applicable in addition to stipends.
▢ Please explain how the research will contribute to the empowerment and liberation of people who use illicit drugs. This should include the expected research products, and an action plan for implementation and follow-up.
▢ Please explain how the knowledge and expertise of people who use drugs will be incorporated into the research and how it will be acknowledged.
▢ VANDU’s participation should be explicitly acknowledged and where applicable VANDU (not individual members) should be listed as co-author.
▢ Any presentation of the research should include VANDU members approved by the Board.
▢ Please be up front with us about who the other collaborators on the project are including other researchers, agencies, and community representatives.
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