NASH82: Empower

Covering the Drug War Like A War - Not A Force of Nature

The overdose crisis is not a force of nature, it is a force of policy. The drug war should be covered like a war, not a flood or a hurricane. But the Canadian news media has, with some exceptions, acted as a propaganda arm for the drug war, scapegoating drug users and letting the powerful off easy. For example, the editor-in-chief of Sun News has been outspoken against safe injection sites, writing, “fentanyl is the best thing that's ever happened for drug addicts…There is zero point keeping people alive just to suffer in perpetual misery,” Other journalists have spread disinformation about naloxone or called drug users “zombies” and “scumbags.” But Vancouver has also produced some great reporters, who cover crisis with more depth. Garth Mullins will discuss the ups and downs of drug reporting in Canada.