Police say two Vancouver drug advocates face trafficking charges

VANCOUVER — Two founders of a Vancouver drug advocacy group that distributed what they claimed were safe doses of heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine to prevent overdoses have been charged with trafficking following police raids Last year.

Vancouver police said in a statement Friday that members of the Drug User Liberation Front have spoken publicly about trafficking the substances.

Police said possession for the purpose of trafficking charges were approved May 31 against Jeremy Kalicum, 28, and Eris Nyx, 33, co-founders of DULF.

The police statement said Kalicum and Nyx each face three trafficking charges and will go to trial on July 2.

Police executed search warrants at the DULF Downtown Eastside offices last October, as well as at two homes linked to the investigation.

At the time, the group's website said its “distribution center” allowed drug users to receive up to 14 grams of cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine per week, with the substances tested for safety before being released. be sold “at cost”.

At a press conference in August 2023, Nyx said the group had distributed 201 doses in its first month of operation and would continue distribution even though it had failed to secure an exemption legal.

The group had called for the same mechanism that allows safe, supervised consumption sites to operate legally in Vancouver and for British Columbia to pilot the decriminalization of small quantities of certain drugs.

Neither Nyx, Kalicum nor their attorney immediately responded to a request for comment.

The Vancouver Coastal Health website says the Drug User Liberation Front Society received $200,000 in public funding in 2021-22.

Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said the contract awarded to DULF was for “drug testing,” not the purchase of drugs, and when the government discovered it was doing so, the contract was canceled.

Earlier this year, Nyx and Kalicum were among the authors of a research paper on 47 people who used the unauthorized compassion club.

The article, published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, concluded that participation in the DULF program was associated with a reduction in non-fatal overdoses, as well as overdoses involving the administration of naloxone.

Hundreds of people took part in a protest calling for a safe supply of illicit drugs after the arrests of Nyx and Kalicum, arguing that DULF was saving lives.

In British Columbia, more than 14,500 people have died from drug overdoses since a public health emergency was declared eight years ago.

Last year, a committee convened by British Columbia's chief coroner, Lisa Lapointe, recommended over-the-counter safe supply programs to reduce deaths, but the idea was quickly rejected by Province.

During last year's raids, the VPD said it supported progressive drug policies and believed harm reduction strategies reduced the number of people killed by toxic drugs, but organizations must follow the law.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2024.

Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press