POV | 21 of my friends died from fentanyl overdoses, now I paint murals to stop others

In 2016, Vancouver street artist James Hardy (aka Smokey D) lost 21 friends to fentanyl overdoses. Now, he paints memorial murals in parts of the city where people get high in an effort to stop them.

By Smokey D as told to Now or Never

This year was a very serious year for me, I've never experienced anything like it. My girlfriend of 10 years was clean for a year and a few months. And then all of a sudden one night — it was a year and a week ago today — she went to do some drugs. And she smoked it and she died of it. And it's really sad. Honestly, I always thought I'd die before her because she was doing really well. I couldn't believe it. That was on February 13th of last year and after that it just started snowballing. At the end of it, out of the 914 people that died, I knew 21 of those people really well. That's a big chunk of friends to take in one year.

Graffiti art to me is not just an art form, it's a lifestyle. I've been doing it 30 years now. I don't just draw a picture or do tags — I want to do a new kind of graffiti. I make pictures that mean something, that are about awareness and that mean something positive, rather than vandalism.  

I try to paint in a lot of places where people usually get high. So maybe, just before they do it, they'll have a look at the mural and second guess what they're doing. They'll realize that their life isn't over. Sometimes when people are young they think that's it, they don't care anymore, and they give up.  I just want them to know the world is a better place with them in it. Even if they may feel alone at the time. A lot of times in the past when I was a full drug addict I felt that way myself, and now I think things are on the upturn. There is a thing at the end if you really look for it.

I usually paint at night but sometimes I paint during the daytime when a lot of people are around. A wide volume of people come up and say that they've seen my art and they've thought a lot about it. It really shocks me sometimes because it's all kinds of people — older ladies, hillbilly guys, young kids — it's really unbelievable. It blows me away.

And that's what keeps me doing it. When people say that kind of thing to me it's not only flattering but when I hear that kind of thing I think like maybe actually people that people are paying attention.

To be honest with you, I'm just not going to sugar coat it... a lot of those people were criminals and drug addicts; people that had no family or anything anymore. But it means a lot to the people who remain in their corner. I try to do nice big murals for them so that society may not forget them.