The cover image is an abstract ink drawing. There is a hand holding a small baby. The baby is reaching up to touch an anatomically correct heart. The space around this is filled with various patterns, leaves and poppy flowers. At the top, the word “Crackdown” is written in capitalized, bolded letters.

Episode 38: The Knock



Being a mother who uses drugs can put you under constant scrutiny from the government. Especially if you’re Indigenous. You’re judged and watched. You live in fear of that knock on the door, when they come to take your kids away. Many moms are rightly scared to access safer supply, harm reduction, detox and withdrawal management – so they avoid those life saving services because they don’t want to draw the eye of the state.

In this episode Hawkfeather Peterson and Elli Taylor, two leaders in the drug user liberation movement, share their stories of surviving the scrutiny and violence of BC’s family policing system. We also hear from professor Jade Boyd who talks about her research on why overdose interventions aren’t reaching mothers.