Fighting for Space

How a Group of Drug Users Transformed One City’s Struggle with Addiction

Travis Lupick
Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press

Book Description

Fighting for Space tells the story of a group of addicts in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside who fought to transform how the city treats its most marginalized citizens. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, they demanded that addicts be given the same rights as any other citizen; against all odds, they won. But just as their battle came to an end, fentanyl arrived and opioid deaths across North America reached an all-time high. It’s prompted many to rethink the war on drugs. Public opinion has slowly begun to turn against prohibition, and policy-makers are finally beginning to look at addiction as a health issue rather than one for the criminal justice system.

Author Bio

Travis Lupick received the Canadian Association of Journalists’ Don McGillivray Award for best overall investigative report of 2016 and two 2017 Jack Webster awards for excellence in BC journalism.