How Crosstown Helped Spike Get His Life Back

Spike is an example of how the right treatment can transform lives.

For seven years, he has come to Crosstown Clinic daily for a dose of prescription heroin, the only thing that’s worked to control his chronic substance-use disorder.

A near-fatal 2007 bike accident set him on a course to serious dependence on opioid-based pain relievers he was given, and from which he was abruptly cut off.

He developed a $250-a-day opioid habit.

Thanks to our Crosstown Clinic, North America’s only clinic offering prescription heroin treatment, Spike is now stable and advocates for harm reduction and human rights. He even ran for Vancouver City Council in 2018, advocating for more spaces for injectable opioid treatment.