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Garth Mullins

@garthmullins.bsky.social
5.5K followers 258 following 458 posts

Host @Crackdownpod.bsky.social VANDU veteran. Drugstore cowboy. National bestselling author. Award-winning journalist. Policy analyst. Shop steward. Blind. Be safe-Keep 6

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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 22h
the end is neigh🐎
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
BC Supreme Court: "Drug users have the right to life, liberty and security of the person." BC Politicians (NDP, Cons, Center parties stop digging graves to comment on their consensus necropolitical position): "Um, no. No they do not."
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
In many local elections in BC & Ontario, some politicians don’t aren’t running against others on the ballot. They are running against us. Trying to stampede voters with fear-mongering about the contagion of drug users & harm reduction. On the next @crackdownpod.bsky.social
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
DULF verdict in a couple hours. Fingers crossed.
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Politicians are competing for who can offer the fastest environmental reviews ⏱️ Well, vote for me and I’ll approve all pipelines, mines & LNG terminals now. This tweet is the certificate ✅ Environmental assessment happened while I was typing it.
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This is the only country song I ever recorded. It goes: "If Steve Earle was my sponsor / like he done for Bubbles on The Wire / I could walk them 12 steps / And I would be alright." Why did I wear a tie to meet him? My band is inactive due to parental leave lowdeadspace.bandcamp.com/track/steve-...
Musician Steve Earle on the left and Garth Mullins on the right
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
If Alberta separates, they’ll need to take their share of Canada’s rats.
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
This hurts my heart. I was a little part of an early 2000s movement that saw orgs, squatters, councillors (like late Jim Green) come together around a vision of Woodwards as a place for the community, families & low income people - not just a posh condo tower. vancouver.citynews.ca/2026/09/10/n...
vancouver.citynews.ca
New Vancouver police training facility opens in Downtown Eastside
The new Vancouver Police Training Academy, located in the Woodward's building in the Downtown Eastside, officially opened Thursday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
📖🏆My national bestselling book, Crackdown, is a finalist for the Vancouver Book Awards #booksky bcyukonbookprizes.com/2026/09/02/a...
bcyukonbookprizes.com
Announcing the 2026 Vancouver Book Award Finalists - BC and Yukon Book Prizes
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Ghosts of the past are always among us. Hauntology is very real. m.youtube.com/watch?v=AzvU...
m.youtube.com
Sheep Farming in the Falklands
YouTube video by Crass Agenda - Topic
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
You heard of the performative male? Check out Canada’s performative police accountability theatre. New @crackdownpod.bsky.social ep. www.crackdownpod.com/episodes/epi...
crackdownpod.com
Episode 58: Toothless Tiger — Crackdown Podcast
Cops kill people. They hurt people. They sexually assault people. And when they do, there’s a whole system that’s supposed to hold them accountable, but it barely works. On Episode 58, Garth and Sam...
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
In 2009, I overdosed. Someone kept me alive long enough for the rest of my life to happen. I found this photo on my phone from that day. We don't need to live in this death world, only it's politically expedient for some ghouls in high office. I'm speaking in Squamish on #IOAD @2pm Junction Park.
Golden hour sky with blurry power lines and trees int he foreground
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
RiP Dolly Parton
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
We Ain’t Dead Yet!!! 🚨New @crackdownpod.bsky.social ep. Overdose deaths are down across North America & the far right wanna take credit. Plus update on what’s next for the pod. www.crackdownpod.com/episodes
crackdownpod.com
Episodes — Crackdown Podcast
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
TONIGHT I’ll Be reading from my book Crackdown + talk, Q&A at “Writers on the Drive”. 7PM. Continental Coffee 1806 Commercial Dr., Vancouver. FREE
A yellow poster on a lamp post with the info from the post on it
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Andrea Woo @andreawoo.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
🎙️ On The Decibel today talking about a proposed $66-million settlement reached over BC's use of birth alerts, a controversial notification system that allowed child-welfare agencies to flag pregnant ppl they deemed to be high-risk without their consent www.theglobeandmail.com/podcasts/the...
theglobeandmail.com
A big step forward for B.C. mothers subjected to ‘birth alerts’
There are class action lawsuits related to birth alerts underway in four other provinces
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Cops get Vancouver ready for the world stage with a barrage of tickets for smoking, vending, existing in public.
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
Anybody see the TV series Pistol? Thoughts? Based on Steve Jones’ memoir, which has some good moments. Lyndon has MAGA poisoning now and Sid has been gone since ‘79. The Sex Pistols seemed like assholes, but I played the grooves off of Nevermind the Bollicks when I was 14.
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
I get called less by journalists since the moral panic against harm reduction got started a couple years back. Even the good ones stand a little further back. Plus, we can no longer get meetings with cabinet ministers. These are clearly the least important metrics of backlash, but there it is.
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
My book, Crackdown, is a finalist for the BC and Yukon Book Prize (Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize). There are four other finalists. We'll find out who wins in the fall. bcyukonbookprizes.com/2026/04/14/a...
bcyukonbookprizes.com
Announcing the 2026 BC and Yukon Book Prizes Shortlists - BC and Yukon Book Prizes
The West Coast Book Prize Society is pleased to announce the names of the finalists vying for recognition in eight categories at the 42nd Annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize aw...
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
Congratulations, @avilewis.ca. I wasn't in Winnipeg this morning, but I kinda wish I was. What an amazing campaign.
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
As the years go by, past police operations against Indigenous people and social movements are slowly exposed. And the spying continues. If you dream of a different world, and manage to actually do something about it, they probably got a file on you. www.cbc.ca/news/indigen...
cbc.ca
How RCMP spies infiltrated the 1970s Indigenous rights movement | CBC News
A CBC Indigenous investigation has found the Cold War-era RCMP Security Service had a widespread and intrusive surveillance operation targeting at least 30 legitimate Indigenous political organization...
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Today, I voted for @avilewis.ca to lead the federal NDP. I never been a member of a political party before. I joined to do this one thing. I want the NDP to be a fighting force again. If you're an @ndp.ca member, vote for Avi. If you ain't, you can still support the campaign lewisforleader.ca
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
"To whom are you accountable?" A question almost never put to me in good faith. But, it's nonetheless important to me. As Exec Producer of @crackdownpod.bsky.social I'm accountable to the Editorial Board. As a drug user activist I'm accountable to VANDU members & the drug user movement.
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
I get that this is some pretty low politics, but do we have to use "drug users" as an insult? I'd say "ABC hack" is probably a bigger diss. @stephenquinn.bsky.social www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
cbc.ca
Vancouver councillor calls his opponents drug users and dealers in social media video | CBC News
Zhou did not respond to an immediate request for comment, but three hours later the mayors' office released a statement with an apology from Zhou.
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Survival never goes out of style
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
Speaking as one of many “heroes at the methadone clinics”, the whole waiting room cringes when that Kid Rock song comes on.
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Seth Klein @sethdklein.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
Just listened to latest episode of @garthmullins.bsky.social’s @crackdownpod.bsky.social Hard to listen to, but recommended 👇 podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/c...
podcasts.apple.com
Episode 56: Extraordinary Circumstances
Podcast Episode · Crackdown · 2026-01-30 · 53m
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
I endorse @avilewis.ca for leader of the @ndp.ca because we need leaders who are willing to take the NDP back to its working class, socialist roots-who & are willing to take money and power away from the people who are hoarding both while the rest of us bury our friends.
Retro campaign-style poster showing Garth Mullins on stage, speaking into a microphone under bright stage lights, with a large ‘Lewis’ banner behind him. A textured halftone effect gives the image a vintage look. A quote fills the lower half of the poster: ‘I’m done with politicians who accept mass death as the price of billionaire comfort. Extreme wealth concentration is a political choice and so is drug policy that criminalizes people to protect property and profit. Avi Lewis is willing to say that out loud—and to fight for redistribution, decriminalization and care instead of punishment.’ The bottom reads ‘—Garth Mullins,’ with a ‘Lewis for Leader’ logo in the corner.
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 28/12/2025
Listening to David Bowie narrate Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf with my baby. He's into it. Hunky Dory next, I reckon. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vr4...
youtube.com
Prokofiev : Peter And The Wolf, Op. 67 - David Bowie, narration; Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra
YouTube video by eblackadder3
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Paula Carlson 🇨🇦 @thepaulacarlson.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
Crackdown on the shelves at #Kerrisdale London Drugs!! @garthmullins.bsky.social … you’ve arrived! 😃🤣
Add Crackdown to your shopping basket at London Drugs!
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Doctors for Safer Drug Policy @dsdp.ca · 26/11/2025
We Refuse: Health Workers Against Involuntary Care is now public. @hrna.bsky.social and DSDP are circulating a joint statement opposing BC’s plan to expand involuntary drug treatment. This approach is ineffective, increases overdose risk, violates autonomy, and harms marginalized communities.
A raised fist, clenched in power. Text reads: "WE REFUSE: Health Workers Against Involuntary Care. A joint statement and call to action from Harm Reduction Nurses Association and Doctors for Safer Drug Policy."

Below that are logos for HRNA and DSDP.
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Bollocks! Drug seizures lead to MORE overdoses. During Task Force Barrage, I reversed 3 ODs. At one, a cop threatened to arrest me for being in the way - after I saved the guy. Our Mayor is full of shite. www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/ar...
ctvnews.ca
Vancouver mayor credits DTES task force with reducing overdoses. Here’s what public health experts say
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim continues to laud the impacts of a police-led task force focused on crime on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, claiming it led to a reduction in overdoses.
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
I rocked my 6 month old baby as I learned another recent bleak war acronym: WCNSF - "Wounded child, no surviving family" Such a common occurrence they needed an abbreviation. I held my baby as the genocide rumbled on and felt fucking useless. #Gaza
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
In this past decade of mass death, there were timid steps in the right direction - at first. But the most coherent, passionate response from the state (and its various apparatus) has been to smash DULF, hire more cops & roll back what little harm reduction we had won.
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Redeye @redeyeradio.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
New on our PODCAST: SFU prof and researcher Kora DeBeck joins us with her comments on the expansion of involuntary care in B.C. @garthmullins.bsky.social @canadahealthwatch.ca @sudubc.bsky.social @msthpetra.bsky.social @koradebeck.bsky.social tiny.cc/gf7u001
tiny.cc
Substance use research scientist questions expansion of involuntary care
Podcast Episode · Redeye · 2025-10-24 · 18m
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
DULF case in court today. Judge: “everyone knew what was happening. It seems like these 2 [Nyx & Kalicum] are being hung out to dry. As soon as politicians started complaining, all of a sudden VPD-which before was fine-suddenly was not fine.” drugdatadecoded.ca/everyone-kne...
drugdatadecoded.ca
"Everyone knew what was happening," judge admonishes Crown as DULF awaits trafficking verdict
Justice Catherine Murray closed the trial with remarks that showed sympathy for the accused and noted the confusing behaviour of Health Canada, the Vancouver police and all other political entities du...
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
We started DULF because we knew nobody was coming to save us, so we had to save ourselves. It worked. But right wing politicians made themselves famous off scapegoating us. The government de-funded us. The cops raided us. But our day in court is here. thetyee.ca/News/2025/10...
thetyee.ca
Safe Drugs on Trial: DULF’s Trafficking Case Begins | The Tyee
The founders are charged with trafficking. Their lawyers argue they had a legal exemption from drug laws.
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
Wear with loafers or derbies? @dieworkwear.bsky.social
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
I’ve been invited to a writers festival. I’m gonna need a tweed jacket with elbow patches. I believe they are mandatory.
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
My 5 month old baby started hugging me last week. I no longer need opioids.
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
I’m sorry B-52s, but your love shack sounds like a pretty rancid joint. All the backing vocals in the universe can’t compensate for the couch in there
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Brooklyn Fowler-Moros @brooklynyvr.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
Just finished Crackdown by @garthmullins.bsky.social It’s an essential piece of history and good sense policy on the failures of the drug war. I highly recommend to anyone, especially educators. www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/700597...
penguinrandomhouse.ca
Crackdown by Garth Mullins | Penguin Random House Canada
*NATIONAL BESTSELLER*Part memoir, part manifesto, Crackdown is a story of the drug war, told from the frontlines.
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Climate Emergency Unit @climateunit.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
Both the poison drug crisis & the climate crisis were declared emergencies. Both have been met with half-measures that fail while the far-right mobilizes and governments offer funding cuts and increased police budgets. Listen now: www.climateemergencyunit.ca/podcast
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
I was honoured to talk with @sethdklein.bsky.social & @anjaliappadurai.bsky.social about the interconnections between drug war & the climate apocalypse. It's all necropolitics.
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
VPD has zero credibility in reporting violent crime statistics. By selective & sensational use of stats, they helped their friends get elected to city council. Now Task Force Barrage is out of gas & VPD wants more money. dailyhive.com/vancouver/va...
dailyhive.com
City claims Vancouver has hit a 23-year low in violent crime | News
The City of Vancouver and Mayor Ken Sim are celebrating a reported 23-year low in violent crime, dating back to 2022, when records began.
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
I am honoured to be invited by Fr. Bill Mok to give the keynote address at Together From Stigma to Support conference at St. Alban's Church in Richmond, BC on Saturday. Everyone welcome.
Poster text: HOSTED BY 360 COMMUNITY
TOGETHER
FROM STIGMA TO SUPPORT A Public Event Fostering Understanding
Around Substance Use, Mental Health, and
Homelessnesss
Saturday, August 30, 2025, 1 PM - 4 PM
7260 St Albans Rd, Richmond, BC
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
• Informal Mingling & Resource Tables
• Naloxone Education • Harm Reduction Talk by Heather Tunold
Expert in Substance Use Policy & Advocacy
• Panel: Voices of Experience & Lived Reality • Keynote Address by Garth Mullins Award-Winning
Journalist, Podcaster and Author
All Are Welcome!
Fr. Bill Mok
https://our360c.ca
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
New VANDU member joined up.
Crow perched on banister
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Garth Mullins @garthmullins.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
In the hi tech dystopian futures imagined in film and TV, space travel is possible but somehow not a fluorescent light that doesn't flicker.
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The Breach @breachmedia.ca · 19/08/2025
Flight attendants at Air Canada have shown workers acting in solidarity can defy a crackdown on their rights—and strike for a better deal, including ending unpaid work. As Carney prepares major cuts and attacks on public sector workers, it’s a model for bold labour action. youtu.be/f08RS-o5ohk
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