July 14 2022
Drug User Activist Distribute Community Regulated Cocaine, Heroin, and Methamphetamine – “I Guess We Do It Ourselves”
After almost a full year of pleading for change, VANDU and DULF yet again distribute a community regulated supply of drugs, in response to May overdose death statistics, and in celebration of the release of their Compassion Club Framework.
Vancouver, BC - 3.5 grams of community regulated cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine has been distributed to commemorate the 195 British Columbians who died of overdose in May 2022. This is the seventh such distribution of drugs, and part of DULF’s Dope On Arrival Program. By giving away a regulated supply of drugs, the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) and the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF) continue to demonstrate the life-saving potential of a community-led response to the overdose crisis.
This distribution was also held in direct response to the Federal government’s lack of ongoing engagement with VANDU and DULF’s Section 56 Exemption Request, which was submitted August 31st 2021. Currently, left in the dark by the federal government, the DULF and VANDU have been left with little choice but to move forward with their compassion club model utilizing the tools that they currently have available to them. This includes running a 40-person evaluative pilot research study on the impacts of this model over the next six months.
"If this government won't help us, then it is up to us, this loving community, to save the lives of those we most hold dear. We will do so with whatever means necessary."
-Eris Nyx, DULF Co-Founder
In order to decelerate the relentless death toll in our communities, the DULF and VANDU are asking the federal Government of Canada to immediately approve their request for a Section 56(1) Exemption. The exemption must be used as a stopgap for current policy failure until a more robust solution to the crisis of prohibition can be created. The life, liberty, and security of people who use drugs are at stake, both in terms of the government’s inaction to save lives, and decisions like the ones that can deny people who use drugs the ability to protect their own health and safety in the face of overlapping health crises.
About Drug Users Liberation Front
Formed in response to the ever-mounting overdose deaths in British Columbia and across Canada, the Drug User Liberation Front looks to provide ta+ngible solutions to this devastating crisis. We are an organized collective of people who use drugs empowered to make change through direct action, courage and conviction, and fueled by the memories of the countless friends, families, and loved ones whose lives have been taken by an unjust, broken system of laws and policies.
About the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users
The Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) was formed in 1998 to bring together groups of people who use drugs. VANDU is committed to increasing the capacity of people who use illicit drugs to live healthy and productive lives. We do this by affirming and strengthening people who use illicit drugs to reduce harms both to themselves and their communities.