Drugreporter and INPUD present a 10 chapter long video series documenting how people who use drugs around the world have organised and formed collectives and unions to protect and defend the health and human rights of their community. The first episode uncovers he history of the movement in the Netherlands, and how it inspired activists in Belgium and France.

Since January 1981, when the first drug user group ‘Junkie-bond’ was established in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the drug user movement has grown exponentially: people who use drugs have continued to organise and form collectives and unions to protect and defend the health and human rights of their community. This struggle for autonomy, self-determination and empowerment of people who use drugs has been, and is, a global phenomenon.

The Rights Reporter Foundation (Drugreporter) and the International Network of People who use Drugs (INPUD) produced this documentary film series that aims to document how the movement of people who use drugs have formed around the world, how they maintain momentum and mobilise, and how they undertake their work and show resilience in a context of criminalisation, marginalisation and oppression.

1. The first episode of the series (30 minute video) features Theo van Dam, who – in the footsteps of Nico Adriaans – was one of the founding fathers of the drug user movement in the Netherlands. The episode uncovers he history of the movement in the Netherlands, and how it inspired activists in Belgium and France. 

2. The second episode (35 minute video) is about Canada, featuring Ann Livingston, Zoë Dodd and the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) team. 

3. The third episode (35 minute video) is about the achievement of drug user groups in Germany, Denmark and Norway. 

4. Drugreporter and INPUD present the fourth episode (25 minute video) of an oral history of the movement of people who use drugs. This time we discover the vibrant user movement in South Africa. 

5. The fifth episode (32.22 minute video) shows activists from the United States look back on the history of the movement of people who use drugs