Cascadia today: Drug compassion club wins in BC court + 14K lose Medicaid in WA + how Portland became a hub for indie comics artists
Good morning! It's the first day of Cascadia Journal's subscription drive: I'm trying to get thirty more paid subscribers by the end of October. Will you help out? I can't do this without the generous support of my readers. For the cost of an oat milk latte each month, you'll help me publish this news roundup as well as publishing opinionated essays and features about the Cascadia bioregion's resistance to US fascism and steps toward autonomy.
And to my current subscribers, thank you!
Do you appreciate Cascadia Journal's exclusive reporting on the ways the Pacific Northwest is pushing back against US fascism? If you have the means, please consider a paid subscription of just $5 per month. Each subscription helps me produce original reporting and opinionated notes on Cascadia's fight to build a more resilient and autonomous bioregion. And to those who already subscribe, thank you! --Andrew
Drug compassion club activists win in BC court
The Tyee reports that this week Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum, founders of the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF), will not serve jail time and in addition, British Columbia supreme court justice Catherine Murray declared a section of Canada's Controlled Drugs and Substances Act unconstitutional.
It's a huge win for the compassion club, which provided medically safe versions of drugs such meth and opioids to drug users and had been charged and found guilty of drug trafficking in a lower court. With the ruling, the Canadian government has six months to rewrite the invalidated section. DULF was founded to help provide a safe supply of drugs to help stop a fatal overdose crisis in British Columbia, which has taken more than 16,000 lives since 2016.
In related news, The Lund Report investigates Oregon's two-year, $1.5 billion statewide program to prevent substance abuse among youth and find those funds have been misspent, inadequately tracked, and generally ineffective.
BC pipeline to get "fast track" approval
CBC reports that a new, climate-killing pipeline between Alberta and British Columbia will be the first project designated as "in the national interest" by Mark Carney's ruling government, setting it up to have reduced environmental review and Indigenous consultation. The $35 billion project will eventually transport one million barrels of oil a day and will terminate near Vancouver instead of the north coast of BC, which has a ban on tanker traffic. Carney's Liberals have introduced a bill that would drastically reduce environmental review and curtail Indigenous consultation for major infrastructure projects.
14,000 lose Medicaid coverage in WA
KUOW reports that 14,000 Washington residents – most of them legal immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees without green cards – lost Medicaid health coverage today thanks to federal legislation passed earlier this year. As the federal government continues to make cuts and squander our tax dollars on a bloated military and a cruel mass deportation campaign, it's time for Washington to increase fiscal independence, tax wealth, and create a statewide universal health care system:
Andrew Engelson
New light rail station opens in north Seattle
The Urbanist reports on the opening of the Pinehurst light rail station in north Seattle, an infill station on the existing line that will serve up to 4,200 passengers daily. Critics have pointed out the lack of housing density and business centers anywhere near the station. The station is also near the city-owned Jackson Park golf course, which activists have said for years should be converted to a public park and site for dense affordable housing.
To join the effort to convert the golf course (and rename it for something other than a genocidal president) visit Jackson Park for All.
How Portland became a hub for comics & graphic novels
OPB has a great, detailed feature about how Portland became a hub for artists creating comics and graphic novels – from The Simpsons' creator Matt Groening to Lynda Barry, to Mike Mignola and the influential publisher Dark Horse Comics. OPB has created a documentary on that history, Indie Comics City. Give it a watch!
Thanks for reading. Keep loving and keep fighting.
And if you appreciate this newsletter, consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $5 per month. --Andy
Do you appreciate Cascadia Journal's exclusive reporting on the ways the Pacific Northwest is pushing back against US fascism? If you have the means, please consider a paid subscription of just $5 per month. Each subscription helps me produce original reporting and opinionated notes on Cascadia's fight to build a more resilient and autonomous bioregion. And to those who already subscribe, thank you! --Andrew
