Incite: Garth Mullins on Surviving the War on Drugs

Presented in partnership with Vancouver Public Library.

Garth Mullins was born into a world too bright for him to fully see, and too unforgiving to fully accept him. Bullied by both kids and adults, who mocked his albinism and trivialized his blindness, Garth turned to activism and punk rock, and discovered a scene that embraced him for who he was. And yet he still couldn’t quell a haunting pain that had overwhelmed him since he was a child—until he tried heroin.

Garth’s experience as a heroin user—including dopesickness, incarceration and overdose—is an all-too-common story for those struggling with drug addiction. Crackdown is an intimate portrait of his relationship with opioids, and a searing indictment of a broken system. With street drugs getting more toxic by the day, drug users and their families, friends, and communities are left to pay the price. And for Garth, it was this revelation that propelled him to the forefront of drug user activism.

Garth joins us at Incite in conversation with The Globe and Mail health reporter Andrea Woo. These two award-winning journalists will discuss a radical reimagining of our approach to drug use, and lead us to envisage a system that helps rather than punishes.

About Incite
Presented by the Vancouver Writers Fest and Vancouver Public Library, Incite is a free quarterly series offering fascinating conversations with celebrated authors and emerging talents. Incite is open to all, in-person at the VPL’s central branch or online. Books will be for sale by Book Warehouse, a division of Black Bond Books, and most events will have a signing after the talk. Can’t make the date? Sign up for the livestream to receive the recording in your inbox!