The Empowerment of Drug Users to Combat Fentanyl Crisis Through Organized in a Campout: Based on the Fieldwork in Vancouver

Abstract

Drug users’ empowerment is critical for their sustainable development, particularly for their survival during the Fentanyl Crisis in which overdose deaths and non-fatal overdoses have increased in recent years across North America. As one of the epicenters, Vancouver has been suffering overdose deaths in the past decade. Simultaneously, Vancouver has a history of empowering drug users to save their lives since the 1990s. Based on the fieldwork in a campout originated by VANDU and REDUN in 2019, this study aims to understand the drug users’ empowerment to construct their strengths, individual competence, and proactive behaviors when they are organized. The active involvement of drug users in their group’s events has enabled them to employ innovative approaches to generate, sustain, and implement alternative methods. Empowering drug users through their organization in policy making and implementing policies to combat the Fentanyl Crisis leads to the evolution of a sustainable society.