Episode 20: Cut Off

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In 2015, Crackdown editorial board member, Jeff Louden, was on morphine pills for his chronic pain. The medication allowed Jeff to find some stability and avoid Vancouver's increasingly dangerous drug market. But, when Jeff's doctor unexpectedly cut down his medication, he turned to the street to outrun dopesickness. 

Five years later, Garth Mullins investigates what happened to Jeff.  What can it tell us about North America's so-called "overprescribing crisis?" 

Guests

Jeff Louden is a member of Crackdown's editorial board and is from the Curve Lake First Nation. 

Laura Shaver is a member of Crackdown's editorial board and is the President of the BC Association of People on Methadone. 

Christy Sutherland is a family doctor, the medical director at the Portland Hotel Society, and the Physician Lead at the BC Centre on Substance Use [BCCSU]. 

Helena Hansen is a doctor and Professor and Chair of Translational Social Science and Health Equity at UCLA.

Bryan Quinby is the host of the podcast Street Fight. You can follow Bryan on twitter here.  

Stefan Kertesz is a physician and a Professor in preventative medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. You can follow Dr. Kertesz on twitter and listen to his podcast, On Becoming a Healer here. 

Dawn Rae Downton is a writer and journalist. You can read her National Post article, "My Year on Death Row," here.