Comics to raise cash for illegal injection site
Recovered heroin addict Mark B. Hughes hopes to raise $10,000 — and chip in a drug joke or two
Vancouver comedians will trade jokes for serious cash Thursday to support an illegal supervised-injection tent in the Downtown Eastside.
The Safe Injection Comedy Fundraiser was conceived by comedian Mark B. Hughes — who kicked heroin addiction a decade ago — to raise money for an unsanctioned site run by a group called the Overdose Prevention Society.
Since October, society members Ann Livingston and Sarah Blyth, along with a crew of volunteers, have provided clean needles, supplies and doses of the overdose-reducing drug naloxone out of a tent near Hastings and Abbott streets.
But because they haven’t received federal exemption and have no access to funding, they’ve had to rely on donations to keep the tent running — about $150 a day — as the neighbourhood is ravaged by tainted drugs during a fentanyl-related overdose crisis.
“There’s a lot of deaths,” Hughes said. “I’m a recovering heroin addict and I spent a lot of time in the old days in the Downtown Eastside. It’s just an issue that’s really important to me.”
Hughes said he felt that as a comedian able to produce shows, he couldn’t sit idle while drug users die. So with the help of co-organizer and fellow comedian Emma Cooper, Hughes plans to host a laugh-filled evening that will sell about $10,000 worth of tickets, with every cent going directly to the cost of running the tent.
The show at the Rickshaw Theatre features Dylan Rhymer and seven other comedians volunteering their time. Hughes said there’s a good chance he’ll chip in an injection joke or two.
“I’m the token recovering addict so I’ve got some jokes about that,” he said with a chuckle.
Rickshaw Theatre owner Mo Tarmohamed is donating the venue. Tickets are $20, but additional donations are welcome.
Doors open Thursday at 7 p.m. More information can be found at safeinjectioncomedy.eventbrite.ca.