The Current - He’s known as the “doctor” in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside

Episode Date: June 8, 2026

For ten years now, BC’s drug crisis has been a public health emergency. And over that time we’ve brought you many stories but this is one you will not have heard before. It’s rooted in the understanding that the vast majority of the drug related deaths aren’t occurring in Vancouver’s notorious downtown eastside, but rather among men, alone at home. In his documentary, Radio-Canada’s Francis Plourde brings us on an unusual tour, meeting drug users trying to stay safe by relying on a man they’ve come to know as their “doctor.”

Imagine you've been charged with a crime, and the only witness pointing the finger at you isn't even human. I remember thinking, are you serious? What is this thing? It's something artificial, created by a mysterious Canadian. And it's coming for all of us. A life-defining technology. Crime as we know it will never be the same. I'm like, oh my God, he's lying.

From CBC's Uncover, The Expert Witness. available now on CBC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is the current podcast. For 10 years now, BC's drug crisis has been a public health emergency, and over that time we have brought you many stories. But this is one you will have not heard before. You are about to meet a man who, aware of some of the realities of this crisis,

has carved out a niche and a legal one for himself. It is rooted in the understanding that the vast majority of drug-related deaths aren't occurring in Vancouver's notorious downtown east side, but rather among men alone at home. Today, our Radja Canada colleague, Francis Pluord, brings us on an unusual tour, meeting drug users trying to stay safe by relying on a man they call their doctor.

Here is Francis's documentary. Sean, may I ask you a question? I see that you're doing the back and forth. Is it because of... I'm just... I've always been fidgety. Yeah, it's nothing... I'm not all sketchier, but I just... Something's my nervousness.

Sean, the man in front of me, is visibly agitated. Sitting across from him is a man he calls his doctor. So basically what I've done is I've just... There's two ways to make a shot up. Yeah. Most people will just... backfill a rig. However, it can lead to other complications, potentially. If there's dirt that's in the bag, then it's not really getting filtered out. But we're not in a clinic or the doctor's

office. We're in Sean's living room. A beer sits on the coffee table. Sean rolls up his sleeve. You already wiped? Yeah. Okay. As the man approaches and preps him for the injection, identifying the vein, and cleaning the skin. As the needle pokes his vein, Sean turns his head away. Painless. Except for that flinch that you did. Let me know if there's any burning, okay? And that's it.

Sean got his fix. Alan, the man he calls his doctor, remains in his living room, cleaning up and making sure his client is all right. Walk it off. Some people get such a rush that they have so much energy that they have to waste it immediately. that it's so strong. Tingles and, you know, yeah, it's the first, you know, 10 minutes.

What I just witnessed is illegal. But this exchange offers a unique window into a world many don't know about. In the midst of the drug crisis, this is how Alan makes money by providing friends and clients with their fix, while promising a safer way to get high at home. Part of his service includes not only the injection,

But the pledge he'll stay for a while, watching for signs of an overdose, psychosis, a stroke or heart attack, ready to use nyloxone or call 911 if he needs to. I ask Alan if he would describe this as a job. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I totally think I'm employed by these people, really. I have a few people that I do every day, and then the sporadic people here and there make up the rest of the thing. But the ones that I do every day are, you know, those are my friends. And while he acknowledges his practice is unusual, he says it isn't unique. Alan claims to know others who perform assisted injections for a fee.

There's about 10 or 15 that I know of. It's kind of the newest thing that's going on around the community is that people are paying for it. Because they realize that, you know, it takes time, it takes effort, it's somebody's skill. And they want to make sure that you do a good job. And what's, well, what a better way to make for it? you do a better job than money kind of thing, right? Everybody needs money.

Hey, can you call me an Uber? I first met Alan a few months ago while I was reporting on Vancouver's downtown east side. Alan is in his 40s. Typically, he can be seen walking around the neighborhood, wearing a baseball cap and glasses, carrying his backpack, and a bottle of juice in his hands.

Well, head over that, right? When he told me about his job, being on call, helping drug users inject themselves in the privacy of their homes, I was intrigued. I asked if I could follow him for a day. And we're going to hop in an Uber. He said yes, if we keep his identity and that of his clients a secret. So because of both the legal risks and the stigma,

for those reasons, none of the names we use in this documentary or real. I'm going 24-7, depends on who calls, when they call, and that's about it. I've been doing this now for four or five years. I've had a couple of steady people throughout those years, and then word and mouth has just gotten around and continued to do it. I asked him how he got started. He says it was through a friend of a friend.

And that person knew of somebody who was looking for a steady doctor. In his circles, people call him the doctorate. And what he does, doctoring. So we're just going to wait for the Uber. For the record, Alan has no such training. What he does, he learned over the years, injecting himself, injecting friends, using Google. And he says, reading research papers. Whenever anybody wants me to stop by or to doctor them, they'll either book me in advance or...

Alan is an addict. He talks openly about it. And while on the job, he says he makes sure he's not on anything. Sometimes I don't. Okay, and you have a big backpack right now. Yeah. What do you carry with you when you're on duty? Mostly harm reduction. So rigs, needles, water, wipes, gloves, any sanitation stuff, anything to keep it clean.

And you have an adoxone with you? Yes, I do. Yeah. Yeah. I don't do very many people with fentanyl, thankfully. because that's kind of unfortunate. But the ones that I do do, I make sure to have noeloxone more naloxone on me,

just because it's a higher risk, of course. I wonder if this is our Uber. It must be. As we're getting in the car, Adam explains to me that he crosses a line that safe consumption sites like Vancouver's inside won't even cross. So like insight and stuff like that. They have nurses there that will help,

but they're not allowed to push in for you, I think. They're not allowed to actually administer. And I mean, if the person does overdose, what do you do? If you're the one who pushed it in, you're kind of responsible for it. And so, I mean, there's a trust both ways for it, for me at least, where I trust my guys are knowing what they can take, what they can handle, and because ideally it's their stuff and what they want. I have no problems making it up for them and administering it for them.

And I mean, I'll never hesitate ever to call paramedics or anybody else that's needed in a case that something does happen. And it is a concern for me. because most of my guys are older. So, I mean, risk of heart attack right away is probably the big one. On an average day, Alan says that he performs between three and a dozen visits. To be clear here, Alan tells me he does not provide the drugs. He says he's not a drug dealer.

But by injecting people for money, is definitely operating outside the law. He charges $20 a shot, plus the cost of the right if he has to go far. A small fee, he says, to prevent a deadly overdose. Last year alone, up to 6,000 people in Canada died over an overdose. Most of them were men, consuming a loan, and Alan makes sure that his clients are not. My whole thing is the risk of accidental overdose.

So cross-contamination, getting mixed in with any other stuff. but I'm always right there beside them for at least 15, 20 minutes after they do the shot. Because I know that I'm still technically responsible for that. I just don't want them using alone. Right here is good. Thank you so much. Cheers. We're making our way to Sean's.

Alan can visit him up to three times on a regular night. Have a good day, bud. Sean lives in a court by himself with his cats. He is in his 50s. At work and among friends, few people would suspect he struggles with addiction. Do I get to a water, beer, or wine? No, I'm good, no. This is the man you heard at the beginning of this story.

My partner passed away two years ago, Massa and I just started using it again. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, thank you. And, yeah, it's just, it's an escape. So, I'm a light drinker. I smoke cigarettes, but meth is my... Yeah, Meth is my drug of choice. It's affordable.

Compared to cocaine, it's a lot more affordable. But I still function. Go to work mostly every day. And what does, like, the methamphetamines, like, how does it help? Just the pain. Just the pain. We just, you know, financial, many, many, you know, just hides everything. But I don't know. It's a mask.

And having someone with you when you consume and to help you injecting, what's the benefit for you? Health, you get terrible infections, people that don't know what they're doing. Yeah, it's totally worth the cost. So this is, yeah, this is great. We'll be right back with more of the current podcast. Imagine you've been charged with a crime and the only witness. pointing the finger at you isn't even human. I remember thinking, are you serious? What is this thing?

It's something artificial, created by a mysterious Canadian. And it's coming for all of us. A life-defining technology. Crime as we know it will never be the same. I'm like, oh my God, he's lying. From CBC's Uncover, The Expert Witness. Available now on CBC Listen or wherever you get your podcast. It's important because it costs a system tenfold.

Doctor visits the medicine, you name it. After Alan makes sure Sean is okay, Alan and I make our way to his next client. He'll call me once, sometimes twice a day. And sometimes I have to be discreet about it. Because the people that are coming to see him don't know that he does it. Most of my clients are older gentlemen who have had families and careers and lives and are still well known in the community. We're not all like downtown east side. I'm not.

Like I don't feel like I belong there. I love the people there. Don't get me wrong. I love them. I feel their pain. I feel their hurt. I want to help them all. But I'm not, I don't fit in.

Over the years, Alan says that he's doctored all kinds of people you would not imagine our addicts. I have had people with multi-million dollar homes call me to go and doctor them. I've had people who have had very successful careers, still in their careers. In a different city, I had, a neurosurgeon who I would inject.

Not very often, granted, but still, like, this is, it's everywhere. We all know somebody. Legal and addiction experts I talk to suggest the fact that Alan earns money by assisting people with injections just shows the magnitude of the drug crisis. I think that anybody who realistically thinks that we can squash, all the drugs out there is unrealistic. Alan refuses to teach people to inject themselves, out of fear they'd use alone.

But you also get a sense that part of them is conflicted. If they wouldn't be using without me being there, that sucks. But good at the same time, because then they're not trying to do it themselves. They're not hurting themselves. They're not risking themselves. So do I feel like I'm enabling some of them? Yes, absolutely.

Do I feel like they would damage themselves more if I wasn't doing it? Yes, absolutely. But it doesn't necessarily mean that I wish that they were doing it. Some of them do it for the wrong reason. Some of them do it for enjoyment. Some of them do it to hide and to cover. And those are the ones that really make you sad. You know, there are people that I've said no to

because I think they've gone a little too far. And I hope that they take that as lovingly and caringly as they possibly can because I don't want them to do it. And I don't want them to do it. That's a big statement. Where are we going now? Now we're going up to Granville Street.

Okay. So it's a nice walk. And we'll be going to see a gentleman there. Very good friend of mine, probably one of my best friends. Okay, so he gave you a call while we were at the other place. Michael is 66, he's an artist, and has been living with HIV for about 40 years. I have a neurological disorder like Parkinson's.

There's no pure for it, so it creates a lot of anxiety for the day. For Michael, using meth is not so much about chasing a high, he says. It's more about seeking relief. It took away the pain. It took away the, my... my care about what other people think, took me my anxiety. I'm curious, there should be advocates for people who know of medications work for them, so they wouldn't have to go to a street drug.

So I told my doctor, I'm going to buy my drugs on the street. And she replied, shrug. You wouldn't consider yourself an addict? No, no. I don't need, there's many times I've gone without it for week, two weeks or whatever, and I'm fine, but they still have my disorder, which bothers me, and eventually just catches up and... Do you mind if I keep recording?

While you're doing it? Yeah, that's fine. I usually always try and do it as clean and safely as I can. You want to go on that side? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's always concerned. If he's going to do it with you, you'll make sure you do it to touch you first,

so you're safe and watch it you for a while. And it's security. Security well, it makes you feel safe. I got my phone, I got everything, you have everything. Yeah, yeah. We'll see you later. Our next stop is the home of Alan's very first client. Okay, so we'll set off.

Before we enter, Steve asks that we don't record until he gets his dose for the day. Steve lives in Vancouver's West End, not far from Stanley Park, in a building with young families and long-term residents. I ask him if anyone knows about his drug use. No. I'm in the banking industry. There's no way that would fly. He's been an addict for more than 20 years, but he keeps his... the secret from most of his friends and colleagues. Oh my God, no.

It started when I started snorting meth in... Up my nose. I snorted it. Yeah. And it was amazing because I could so much more energy. Holy Christ. Stay up all night. I could do anything.

And I thought, this is cool. I'm going to just definitely have to have this in my life. How often do you consume? Every day. Every day. Steve has been paying for Allen's services for more than four years. He helps me with my addiction to methamphetamine. He's my doctor.

I don't want to use this alone. I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to inject myself. And I don't want to hurt myself. After so many years, most of his veins, even on his hands, are scarred by the constant use of needles. Yeah, veins become tough. They do become tough. Vains will spiral as their own defense mechanism kind of thing.

Today we went in the leg, which is normally not recommended. However, for him, it's kind of where we're at with it. Doctors warned that depending where an injection takes place, there are risks of things like hitting arteries, causing nerves, damage, blood clots, or infection. But Steve trusts Allen. There's never to go to get help from a nurse or any of these other conventional places

because it's drugs and it's so frowned upon. And people need someone they can go to that can help them. And we just call them doctor because, you know, he's going to help me achieve my goal. what I set out to do, and that is to, you know, get, get, it's not even get high, it's just to, yeah, it is to get high, yeah, to get high, Jesus. How many doctors did you have over the years? I've had one, two, three, three doctors.

Four doctors. Four doctors. For Steve, the arrangement is a win-win. It helps Alan earn money, and it helps him. And it helps him control these drug use. Self-imposed because I don't want to be out of control. Yeah. If it costs me any more a day, then I can't afford it. Then that keeps me in line. And it's not like I'm ever going to turn away anybody

just because they can't afford it either. You know, it has become a business for me, but still, at the same time, it's more about health and safety and making sure that they're not using a loan. I asked Steve about why he doesn't go to one of the government sanctions safe consumption. in Vancouver like Insight. I've never gone to Insight.

I could never picture anybody like you had Insight. No, no, no, no, no, I've never been to Insight. I've heard nothing about good stuff about them, but, yeah, I don't know, I just don't want to be seen. I don't want to be seen as one of those people. Right, so the stigma? Absolutely, yeah, of course. What do you think people get wrong?

If there's any misconceptions, you mean? Yeah. that we are we collectively i suppose are degenerates we all are people we all are human we all have feelings we all have emotions and we all count we're somebody's brother sister you know father whatever we all have we're all human right so yeah judgment hurts As we leave Steve, Alan explains to me that his role, it's not so much about injecting a substance. It's about preserving dignity, he says.

For him, it's also a way to control his own addiction and find purpose in the process. I've been asked by people like, well, what if somebody dies? And I've heard of people who have had people die doing it. And it's one of those things that I'll knock on wood, hope it never happens to me. But if it came down to somebody did pass away and something happened and a family member took me to court, I'd go to court. Absolutely. I'm responsible.

Multiple times when I followed him. I asked Alan about the legal risks, but I kept wondering, did he really know what he was risking if someone died or was injured while he was injecting them? You could make sure his mic is, like, just about this far away from your mouth. So a few weeks later, my producer Joan and I, we invited Alan to our studios at the CBC.

So the sound is okay? I think so. He admitted the experience was weird, but he didn't shy away from my questions. You know, let's talk about the legality of what you're doing. What's your understanding? My understanding is that I'm at fault.

If anything goes wrong, I can be implicated. very badly. Socially, just as just asly or whatever, I can have the book thrown at me pretty bad, I'm assuming. Yeah, we can talk about that because I mentioned to you, I spoke to

legal experts, not to scare you, just to because we were curious, we knew it was illegal. Yeah. And, you know, without an exemption, like a site for assisted injection. The risks include like being prosecuted for possession, drug trafficking because of the transfer of a substance. It could be also accusations of administering a noxious substance. That's up to 14 years. Assault involuntary manslaughter if the person dies.

So, you know, it could be 10 years to life in prison for manslaughter. Did you expect that? and what are your thoughts on that? That's big. That is really big. And I really, really hope that it would never come down to anything like that. But if it did, that's on me. Do you think those would be unfair as a...

I do think that they're a little unfair. Absolutely. I mean, I'm not going at this in any malicious intent at all. and I know damn well that I would definitely get a really, really good lawyer who would fight tooth and nail for me because I just don't have that in me to see that happen. Like I would do anything for any of my guys. I would, if I had to take a bullet for one of them, I would. You know, I just don't see my...

myself being prosecuted based on a wrongdoing because I don't think that I'm doing wrong. I know it's wrong, but I don't feel like it should be wrong. However, I don't find too many people who want that kind of blood on their hands either way. You know, every time you go to a different job, there's the potential of the person dying. And that's stressful. And there's not too many people who would do that day in, day out. That documentary was produced by Roger Canada's Francis Pluord with Joan Weber of the CBC audio documentary unit. You've been listening to the current podcast. My name is Matt Galloway. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you soon.

For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.