Raise Shit!

Social Action Saving Lives

by Susan C. Boyd, Donald MacPherson and Bud Osborn  

This book tells a story about community activism in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side (DTES) that culmi-nated in a social justice movement to open the first official safe injection site. This story is unique: it is told from the point of view of drug users – those most affected by drug policy, political decisions and policing. It provides a montage of poetry, photos, early Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) meetings, journal entries from the Back Alley, the “unofficial” safe injection site, and excerpts from significant health and media reports. The harms of prohibition, and resistance, hope, kindness, awakening and collective action are chronicled in these pages.

raise shit

we have become a community of prophets in the downtown eastside rebuking the system and speaking hope and possibility into situations of apparent impossibility

to raise shit is to actively resist and we resist with our presence with our words with our love with our courage

by Bud Osborn

Shop direct

Are you a student?


  • August 2009
  • ISBN: 9781552663271
  • 192 pages
  • $26.95
  • For sale worldwide

Or via your local bookstore
Shop Local

About the book

This book tells a story about community activism in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side (DTES) that culmi-nated in a social justice movement to open the first official safe injection site. This story is unique: it is told from the point of view of drug users – those most affected by drug policy, political decisions and policing. It provides a montage of poetry, photos, early Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) meetings, journal entries from the Back Alley, the “unofficial” safe injection site, and excerpts from significant health and media reports. The harms of prohibition, and resistance, hope, kindness, awakening and collective action are chronicled in these pages.

raise shit

we have become a community of prophets in the downtown eastside rebuking the system and speaking hope and possibility into situations of apparent impossibility

to raise shit is to actively resist and we resist with our presence with our words with our love with our courage

by Bud Osborn

Activism & Social Movements Health & Illness Social Work

Authors

Susan C. Boyd

Susan C. Boyd is a scholar/activist and distinguished professor at the University of Victoria. She has authored several articles and books on drug issues, including Busted: An Illustrated History of Drug Prohibition in Canada. She was a member of the federal Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation. She is a long-time activist who collaborates with groups that advocate for the end of drug prohibition and for the establishment of diverse services.

Donald MacPherson

Donald MacPherson is the former Drug Policy Coordinator for the City of Vancouver. He has been active for many years working on social justice issues that both strengthen and sustain the community in DTES.

Bud Osborn

Poet Bud Osborn is a founding member of VANDU. He has been active for many years working on social justice issues that both strengthen and sustain the community in the DTES.

Login

Don’t know your password? We can help you reset it.

Are you a student?

Answer a few questions to get a special discount code only available to students.

Your Cart

There is nothing in your cart. Go find some books!