Downtown Eastside
How One of Canada’s Poorest Neighbourhoods Avoided a COVID Crisis
From $5 incentives to on-the-street vaccines, Vancouver’s public health authority created a tailored approach to vaccinating the Downtown Eastside.
Activists in Vancouver Gave Out Free Cocaine to Highlight Overdose Crisis
Organizers called out the B.C. government for allowing drug users to die in record numbers while pouring resources into its COVID-19 response.
What It’s Like Becoming Homeless During a Global Pandemic
Closed libraries and drop-in centres. Water fountains shut off. Ace Lovell found himself living on the street at the worst possible time.
Deadly Overdoses Are Rocking Canada's Poorest Neighbourhood Under Lockdown
In the Downtown Eastside, ground zero for Canada’s opioid crisis, a new wave of fatal overdoses has Vancouver's top doctor worried.
Court-Imposed ‘Red Zones’ Are Ruining Drug Users’ Lives
Canada’s first in-depth study of release conditions found life-threatening consequences for users banned from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
Vancouver's Pop-Up Overdose Prevention Site Is Now Giving Users Free Weed
Capsules of CBD, THC, and the herbal painkiller kratom are part of a DIY harm reduction effort that police aren’t planning to shut down.
I Was a Homeless High School Honours Student
I had one foot in two worlds and I was an outsider in both.
Why Vancouver Has Always Been an Addiction Ground Zero
Breaking down the city’s contradictory reputations as the epicentre of an overdose “bloodbath” and a beacon of progressive drug policy.
Life Inside Vancouver’s Most Notorious Housing Block
Meet the tenants living in the city’s most complained-about single room occupancy hotels.
There's Little Time to Mourn the Dead as Overdoses Continue in Vancouver
At a vigil in the city's hard-hit Downtown Eastside neighborhood, family and friends remember hundreds lost.
Why Do Men Account for 80 Percent of BC Overdose Deaths?
Researchers say men are more likely to use drugs alone, which has been called a death sentence in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.