Pubdate: Sun, 04 Dec 2016
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Nick Eagland
Page: 12

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
http://www.safeinjectioncomedy.eventbrite.ca/
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MAP posted-by: Matt