Monday, April 17, 2023

 

A community-regulated supply of heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine has been distributed by the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF) and the United Northern Drug Users (UNDU).

 

To commemorate the seventh year of BC’s public health emergency, and the 197 people who passed away in March 2023, UNDU and DULF distributed 3.5 grams of each cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.

 

Prince George, BC - Despite our best efforts to keep people alive, Drug User Groups across the province remain underfunded and unsanctioned in doing the work we know needs to be done - keeping people alive. As people who use drugs, we understand that the crisis caused by prohibition will only be solved by a demedicalized and regulated drug supply, and that such a supply can best be provided in spaces and under a framework created by drug users themselves. To this end, whether in the area of supervised consumption services, or access to a predictable drug supply, we remain appalled by the lack of evidence-based harm reduction throughout the province.

 

Over 11,000 people have died since 2016 from illicit drug toxicity deaths. In Prince George, 1 in every 1,250 people (79/100,000 people) died of overdose last year alone. This is nearly double the rate of most of British Columbia. 

 

In an effort to show that evidence-based harm reduction works, DULF and UNDU distributed drugs to the membership of UNDU. The drugs caused 0 known overdoses, and have been tested via PS-MS, NMR, and HPLC testing, and do not contain fentanyl, benzodiazepines, or other harmful cuts buffs, and adulterants.This is the 15th giveaway of such drugs and part of the Drug User Liberation Front’s Dope on Arrival Program. DULF and UNDUs demonstration shows the potential for a life-saving community-led response to the declared public health emergency in BC, that could stem the escalating overdose deaths rates across Canada with sanctioning.

 

UNDU’s members who received DULF’s substances agreed that a community regulated supply of drugs would decrease the crime rates and overdose fatalities in Prince George, while noting the need to have additional options like fentanyl and benzos due to the increased rate of use of these substances. Ultimately, UNDU stands behind DULF’s program, and the urgent need for a safer regulated supply and the right for people to know what they are putting into their bodies.