FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A safe supply of heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine is being given out for free to residents of the Downtown East Side of Vancouver to act on the increasing number of overdose deaths in British Columbia and continued inaction by the Provincial and Federal governments.
 
In response to the 1716 overdose deaths in 2020 and continued inaction in British Columbia, the Drug User Liberation Front has taken matters into their own hands, by any means necessary, to provide a real safe(r) supply of drugs to people who use drugs.
 
Vancouver, BC - The members of the Drug User Liberation Front provided free heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine to residents of the Downtown East Side of Vancouver for a third time. These drugs have been tested via FTIR spectrometry and immunoassay; and are free of fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, benzodiazepines and many other harmful cuts, buffs or adulterants. People will know what they are taking.
 
The purpose of this action is to raise awareness and in honour of the estimated 1716 lives
tragically lost in British Columbia in 2020 and to honour the thousands of lives lost since April of 2016 when the Overdose Emergency was officially declared. Every one of these deaths was preventable; every life lost was stolen.
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All levels of government have abandoned us, you have the responsibility to stop blocking access to a safe supply of drugs, and must immediately provide us with safe drugs, this is willful negligence. We demand:
 
1. All levels of government must immediately fund programs for safe and accessible supplies of all drugs, including cocaine, heroin, and crystal meth, by directly listening to user groups and people who use drugs, and adding these drugs to the formulary, or allow us to create routes of access ourselves.
 
2. All levels of government must immediately give us an accessible legal framework that decriminalizes, licenses, funds, and provides facility spaces for heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine compassion clubs.
 
The data has been collected, research done, and concrete solutions proposed, but people are still dying in unprecedented numbers. It is past time to take real action.
 
We are no longer willing to stand by and bear witness to the devastation of our community.
BC’s steps toward mitigating overdose risk, while laudable in themselves, have taken too long to implement, do not go far enough, and are not universally accepted. Drastically more is needed, immediately, to prevent more deaths.
 
We have countless agencies, authorities, and officials with the power to ensure that the lives of substance users are not seen as expendable in the province of British Columbia. We call on every leader in British Columbia to step up to and face this dire need for accountability and own the responsibility they have been given to stop this senseless cycle of death.
 
With profound frustration and hearts that have been obliterated by grief we share this message; step up and address the issues that are killing us, or allow us access to the resources and funds to do it ourselves, outside of the constraints of this discriminatory structure. 

Contact
 
druguserliberationfront@gmail.com
 
About Drug User Liberation Front

Formed in response to the ever-mounting overdose deaths in BC and across Canada, the Drug User Liberation Front looks to provide tangible solutions to this devastating crisis.