Vancouver drug advocates face trafficking charges, police say

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 offenses following raids police last year.

Vancouver police said in a statement Friday that members of the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF) have spoken publicly about trafficking these 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 charges and are due in court 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 news conference in August, Nyx said the group had distributed 201 doses in its first month of operation and would continue distribution even though it had not obtained a legal exemption.

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. Health Canada rejected his request in 2022, which DULF has since appealed.

DULF legal counsel Tim Dickson and Stephanie Dickson said in a joint statement to CBC News that their clients were disappointed the charges were approved.

“We are surprised that the Crown made this decision before the Federal Court decided whether Health Canada's refusal to grant an exemption to the compassion club was constitutional,” the lawyers said.

“If the Crown is serious about pursuing these charges, our clients will challenge the constitutionality of banning a life-saving safer supply program in light of this devastating toxic drug crisis.”

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.

DULF co-founder Garth Mullins told CBC News that DULF's actions were necessary to save lives amid the toxic drug crisis.

“Eris and Jeremy are brave as hell,” he said.

“It’s a real shame for the people who made the decision that their bravery, their courage and their love for the community must be rewarded with something that could threaten their freedom like this.”

Mullins added that drug policy advocates and supporters “will be out in force” at Nyx and Kalicum's court appearance if the co-founders and their legal team want that support.

“Civil disobedience has a long history,” he said. “When you face unjust laws, sometimes you have no choice but to break them.”

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 Vancouver Police Department said it supported progressive drug policies and believed harm reduction strategies reduced the number of people killed by toxic drugs, but organizations had to respect the law.