January 31, 2023
DULF Announces Successful 6-Month Milestone of Heroin, Cocaine and Methamphetamine Compassion
Club, Urges Government to Follow.
Ongoing overdose death and insufficient government response prompts the importance of regulating the illicit
drug supply.
Vancouver, BC – On the heels of the limited decriminalization of small amounts of certain drugs in British Columbia, the BC Coroner releases another devastating announcement that overdoses continue to increase. In response to this announcement, and in memory of all those lives needlessly lost, the Drug User Liberation Front announces its 6th month of running its community regulated cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine store/compassion club.
The drugs provided by DULF’s compassion club are tested via Mass-Spectrometry, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometry, and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography and then clearly labelled with this information to ensure people know the contents, potency and quality of their drugs. Members of the compassion club are then able to come to a physical location and obtain this ‘community-regulated supply’ for up to 80% cheaper than they would on the street.
After 6 months of operation and over 1kg of substances provided through the compassion club, there have been no deaths resulting from the club. Further, members of the club are reporting less involvement in crime, less overdose risk, higher financial stability and increased control over their lives.
Decriminalization alone does not address the issue that drug users will still need to access an unregulated and deadly drug supply. Step up and address this issue or allow us access to the resources and funds to do it ourselves.
Jeremy Kalicum, Co-founder, Drug User Liberation Front
This announcement also corresponds to another distribution of 3.5 grams of community regulated cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine, 10.5 grams total, to commemorate the British Columbians who died of overdose in 2023. This is the 13th such distribution of drugs and was done in partnership with the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), as part of DULF’s Dope On Arrival Program (DoA).
Without a substantial increase in the availability of regulated drugs, decriminalization will not reduce overdose deaths. It is with profound frustration and unimaginable grief, that we ask for the government to act now and regulate the illicit market, before more lives are lost.