Sawbuck's work centers on the lives of people whom society has repeatedly and systematically tried to ostracize, villify, and stigmatize. These are the dispossessed. Documenting the injustices they suffer, the illnesses they face, the harm done to them, and the harm they do to others has been Sawbuck's principal concern since its inception.
Our goal is to change the way people think about the dispossessed, "the other," the ostensible "scum of society." We at Sawbuck believe--and have marshalled substantial evidence on this point--that society suffers from diseased, unhealthy, destructive ideas concerning substance users. But it's a disease that has become naturalized to the point where it's rarely questioned. Well ... Sawbuck commits itself to questioning the "natural" language of pathology and disorder with respect to drug users the world over.
On this page we pay tribute, homage, and respect to people whose lives ended prematurely not only because of drugs but perhaps more important because of how society thinks about, responds to, and (mis)treats drug users. These are "the raindogs" ... the people who will never be going back home ....
“We are healthy only to the extent that our ideas are humane.” Kilgore Trout's epitaph, Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut