Giving thanks for DULF

Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum are free, and Section 5(2) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act could be struck from law in T-minus 5 months, 17 days if Health Canada does not get its act together. This renders 'possession for the purpose of trafficking' no longer enforceable.

To mark the moment, Drug Data Decoded asked readers to submit their reactions to the news. They are provided here in full. Please savour the moment, give thanks for the remarkable courage and risk that Eris and Jeremy took, and begin to prepare for what comes next.

Jessica Michalofsky (Aubrey's mom), Victoria and Greenwood, BC: I wept. The knowledge that my son died denied the assistance DULF was providing is a bitterness I will never get over. To see the people trying to save my son’s life jailed broke my heart.

Benji, Montreal, QC: I'm writing this with tears in my eyes. Safe supply is how we are going to save people like my girlfriend who overdosed and died back in 2024. This decision is an incredibly needed step in the direction towards meaningful safety for drug users and those in recovery. I haven't felt this much hope in forever. I love you DULF <3

Zoë Dodd, Toronto: I haven't stopped being emotional about the decision since I heard the judge's verdict. I hadn't realized how much fear I was holding at the thought of our comrades going to federal prison for saving lives. It has spilled out in tears for the last 24 hours.

We have collectively lost so many people: before they were raided, after they were charged, and during the trials. We could have had more compassion clubs, real decriminalization, and legalization. Instead, everything ground to a halt, and our comrades were used as political punching bags. Their lives were put on hold and irrefutably harmed.

The last few years have been hell. We've watched the gains we made be destroyed by the far right and by those who want to expand the drug war, who use our tragedies to score cheap political points and for those who profit while we swim in grief and rage. This verdict confirms everything we know to be true.

People who use drugs have autonomy and self-determination. We are grown adults who should be able to access a legal, safe supply of drugs. The drug war has caused the most harm. Prohibition has been a devastating, failed project that has decimated communities. People's lives have value, and the fight will continue until the drug war is over, and until everyone who supported it and contributed to the destruction of lives, communities, and environments through mass incarceration, prison expansion, and involuntary treatment is held to account. This struggle is for life, and our comrades showed us a path to it.

[City councillor] Susan Kim, Lkwungen-speaking territories, Victoria BC: The DULF decision will never bring back the lives of those loves ones we've lost along the way. This decision also affirms and codifies that governments should be embarrassed for their complicity in the deaths of their own citizenry. I look forward to the day when history books decry that we had to go this far in order for the courts to recognize what community members have already been saying: safe supply saves lives. Decriminalization saves lives.

Dr. Ryan Herriot, Victoria: I cried tears of joy when I heard the news. One day we will live in a society that truly values all human life, and the sacrifices that Jeremy and Eris have made will be remembered as a key part of how we got there. The path to a rational, evidence-based drug policy lies ahead, and the way just got a little brighter.

[Former Chief Medical Officer of Health] Perry Kendall, BC: The is a very significant judgement by Justice Murray. The next step must be for the Canadian Government to review the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and the Food and Drugs Act (CDSA) with the explicit purpose of addressing a) the paradoxical impact of Prohibition and b) a shorter (much shorter) workaround that would allow, under section 56 of the CDSA, evaluable Compassion Club models of Safer Supply.

[TalkingDrugs editor] Andre Gomes, UK (but global): Absolutely momentous decision that was celebrated worldwide. We've been following this case from the start, helping with a protest at the Canadian embassy in London. In a time period where so much is going wrong in global drug policy, this win hit home. Safe supply saves lives.

Sara Davidson, New Brunswick: Your efforts and endurance have paved the way to keep the door open a notch to a more just and equitable approach to dismantling the criminalization of people. Thank you for not giving up, for being brave, and for sharing your pragmatic compassion with all of us.

Jean Swanson, Vancouver: The decision is great but mostly want to give kudos to Eris and Jeremy for putting their freedom on the line to save lives.

The applicants filed numerous research papers and reports which included the results of DULF’s evaluation as reported in a series of articles published in peer-reviewed scientific journals... The Crown called no evidence, expert or otherwise, to challenge any of the evidence called by the applicants regarding the toxic drug crisis, measures taken to respond to it, safer supply programs including proposed non-medicalized programs, or DULF’s Compassion Club... Credibility is not an issue in this hearing. The witnesses were of the highest calibre. While the Crown argues about the strength of the DULF research, the applicants were transparent in the analytical limitations of their research... Ultimately, none of the evidence was challenged or contradicted in any material way.
-Legal decision by Justice Catherine Murray

H, Southern Alberta: Having lost our SCS site earlier this year, and the remaining ones across the province, it felt like Canada was turning its back on their most vulnerable. Those of us who’ve worked and served this population have always looked to BC as the leader in harm reduction, innovative ways to manage the trauma response of those living with addiction. To see these charges dropped shows SOMEONE SOMEWHERE is taking a stand. Whether that person has lost someone to addiction or not, those of us who have and who continue to care for those surviving are forever grateful. Meet them where they’re at also means meeting us where we are standing, holding the line for someone’s life to mean something more than what they’ve endured. From your friends one province over, good work, stay safe, stay warm, and always carry narcan!!

Nate, DTES: 💅💅💅

Amanda Whitten, Victoria: The dedication and commitment to true care of the community is that DULF demonstrated is truly inspiring. I'm grateful for this real-world master class in solidarity-you are the change we need to see. Thank you feels woefully inadequate but thank you truly, sincerely.

Chelsey Blair, RSW, Vancouver: We are living through a historical moment that could be a turning point - one that saves countless lives and moves towards justice for people who use drugs. I am very grateful to Jeremy and Eris for all they’ve done and persisted through in this effort for the cause.

Ben Goerner, Sooke, BC: As a retired treatment provider and frontline counsellor, this decision carries significant weight for me. It signifies meaningful progress in how the law should be addressing substance use health issues. In my overall practice, I found the last years of my watch the darkest and most deadly as the only supply of substances available were increasingly contaminated with toxic additives. I watched, in real time, people who were dependent on heroin become unintentionally dependent on fentanyl. I watched, and continue to see in real time, street product becoming less and less responsive to life saving medication such as naloxone. This is not about addiction, it is about the contaminated unregulated supply of illicit substances that the law has been forefront in its role in creating this perfect storm. I welcome this much needed change in how we view substance use.

Star Fiorotto, Peterborough: I am eternally grateful and proud of you for all the love and compassion you showed! Thank you for protecting PWUD and now it’s time for you to take rest.

Marla May, Red Deer: Very few individuals could complete this journey. The hero's arc personified. I hope you find rest, your peers redemption and people who love people who use drugs respite. Much respect and gratitude. Marla May

Missy McLean, Cobourg, ON: The contribution made by Eris and Jeremy to the advancement of drug user liberation is immeasurable, and the ways in which they did their work with such courage, care and transparency is a model for us all. This decision coming at a time when PWUD are being continuously targeted with new death-making policies is a reminder that PWUD don't just fight to win, they fight to live and DULF's work is truly life giving.

The BC MOH was fully aware of all DULF’s operations, including selling the tested drugs to its members. The Vancouver Police Department (“VPD”) was also aware of DULF’s operations. DULF was fully transparent about what they were doing.
-Legal decision by Justice Catherine Murray

"In solidarity," Nanaimo: This decision felt like much needed hope. At a time where it appears like so much injustice is allowed to prevail, this decision and DULF's unwavering commitment to justice is a reminder to stay the course, speak the truth, and never give in to those who use power and privilege for personal gain and oppression. Way to go Eris Nyx, Jeremy Kalicum, and all those on your team who helped you fight for justice. Thank you Justice Catherine Murray for using the law to protect our community members and those who place themselves on the line to protect them from government sanctioned oppression.

Kat P, Vancouver: There are no words to describe the amount of respect and admiration I have for Mr. Kalicum and Ms. Nyx, but to continue to show up for your community at such incredible personal risk and cost is nothing short of heroic. It also highlights the deep flaws in our system that have resulted, and continue to result, in the preventable deaths of friends, family, and community members. I am so grateful that this has been validated by Justice Murray and I am hopeful that this decision will be a turning point in the way that our health, social service, and judicial system views people who use drugs.

Devon, Vancouver: The ruling on Tuesday came as no surprise considering the more than thirty years of work behind the case for safe supply. It's devastating to know that a toxic supply killing sixty thousand people in a decade is a price the system deems worth paying. I am so proud of the work DULF and all its predecessors have done. I heap great shame on every organization and individual who abandoned them when it threatened their bottom line to support what was a life-saving and legislatively challenging answer. Compassion has prevailed.

Gillian, Calgary: You are inspirations for grassroots organizing and putting people first - something that feels lacking today. Thank you for fighting the good fight. You are both great humans.

Ken Robinson, Edmonton: Our Courts still mean something in Canada, does Health Canada? We are seeing the erosion of a care system that is saving lives. Alberta is going full speed ahead with for profit recovery, while closing proven treatment programs. This decision MUST stand!

SG, Vancouver Island: Finally, a win for the good guys! I'm proud to have financially supported DULF. My heart goes out to Eris, Jeremy and the community for what they have to endure. Toxic people in politics, on top of the toxic drug crisis, have made things so much worse.

Dr. Ferris, Victoria: Fantastic news, thank you for your pioneering work and hope that this will lead to much needed changes in drug policy.

Daniel Snyder, Langley, BC: Yes! A Canadian court just looked at prohibition and asked the question harm reductionists have known for decades... 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞?

Pierre Poilievre... told a television news reporter that it was a “disgrace” that the BC NDP would “give hundreds of thousands in tax dollars to illegal drug dealers in addition to decriminalizing hard drugs.” [However] the Vancouver Coastal Health funding given to DULF was to support the overdose prevention site and the drug checking services... Mr. Kalicum and Ms. Nyx advised that they purchased the drugs using funds they received from concerned community members, not with the funds they received from the government. In the face of the public outcry, the BC MOH directed Vancouver Coastal Health to terminate its funding to DULF... And the drug section of VPD, which was aware of DULF and the Compassion Club but had turned a blind eye, commenced an investigation.
-Legal decision by Justice Catherine Murray

Adda, Interior: I am overjoyed to see the justice system actually make a lasting change to the impacts of discrimination and misinformation that the war on drugs manufactures. I am happy that there is now opportunity to [provide] evidence-based information allowing the Charter of Rights to be used in support of the vulnerable and deeply stigmatized population. Using human rights to support this valuable group should have never been questioned and now the opportunity for creating precedent will hopefully positively impact the population of drug users in supporting the access of safe substances.

Ruth McMillan, Northwest BC: So glad the judicial system can see the facts here! DULF was not drug dealing, they were simply providing a social service needed to [break] the drug dealing business and keep users alive! Humans have been using drugs since drugs were first discovered. Legalize and regulation are the solution here. Get rid of the [violence and toxic] drugs that are killing people by simply legalizing, regulating, educating and providing rehabilitation to deal with this effectively.

Zain, Saskatoon: In a sea of terrible headlines and disheartening court decisions, it's nice to have hope again.

Julie Jones, Mission, BC: The politicians are WRONG! SAFE SUPPLY SAVES LIVES!! Follow the evidence.

Jared, Saskatoon: Very proud and inspired by Jeremy and Eris for risking their own freedom to save lives. It has been 10 years since BC declared a health emergency for the toxic unregulated street drugs causing overdose and death. In that decade leaders and governments at all levels have refused to do what's needed to reduce the deaths. In fact we are taking steps backward, as conservative moral panic and fear mongering has been effective on our politicians and has led them to take the cowardly way out, increasing police, forcing people into treatment (also unconstitutional) and reducing access to harm reduction. Immediate measures needed to be taken to save lives, and distributing drugs of known content and dose was absolutely necessary to replace the drugs killing our peers. Justice Murray recognized this, and rightfully declared the charges against Jeremy and Eris unconstitutional. Thank you Jeremy and Eris for your courage and bravery, may this lead to some real change.

[Unnamed], Vancouver: They changed the world what can I say. I'm so happy they won't go to prison - especially Eris (another law that needs to change). It really feels like a miracle this outcome could change everything. I'm so grateful to DULFs founders Jeremy and Eris, they have and will continue to save so many people ❤️

Public health professional, Vancouver Island: This is a wonderful moment and so badly needed during these cruel times. Compassion clubs are why we have medical cannabis and some cancer drugs. 'Death Canada' [Health Canada] has a long history of doing nothing and causing deaths, from not doing anything about a safe, domestic supply of diacetylmorphine to ensuring that ensuring that young people cannot order suicide kits into Canada - they remain a useless bureaucratic machine without accountability. They are more worried about labels and not sticking their necks out than actually protecting health and life. Eris and Jeremy care about people who are just trying to stay alive in a system that offers no real options and no dignity. Eris and Jeremy were doing everything above board and with rigour in the only way possible until a wilfully ignorant and cruel federal politician used the issue for personal attention and weak politicians in BC rolled over - and Death Canada with them. Everyone supported this approach to the pilot until it got dicey, then Eris and Jeremy were thrown under the bus. Protecting lives is supposed to be the point of CDSA, Health Canada, and Public Safety, but they prioritize stonewalling or criminalizing progress. In addition to Jeremy and Eris gaining their freedom, many of us hope this shines a light on the true nature of Health Canada, and calls for some reform and accountability. Health Canada should be taking their marching orders on public health emergencies from provincial and federal Public Health, not regulators and bureaucrats, or VPD or politicians.

Div and Brit (Scourge Distro), Naarm (so-called melbourne): Joy, hope, and support within the legal system rarely come together for drug users, but this court ruling proves they can co-exist. This is a huge win for DULF, for Canadian drug users, and everyone that supported the campaign in some way. We want the wins to continue and be a catalyst for significant change for our wider drug using community. Hope might have 1312 reasons to not survive, but DULF and their supporters have shown us how to keep it alive a little longer.

Shelagh, Edmonton: This ruling and Justice Murray's words ring true and right. Some GOOD news for a change. Jeremy Kalicum and Eris Nyx are heroes for bravely standing up and shining a light for all of us.

David Malmo-Levine, Vancouver: I went to the SCC in 2003 on pot dealing charges. I did 4 months at Fraser Regional in 2009-2010 over pot and shrooms. Being a disobedient drug peace activist isn't an easy life choice. But a ruling like this makes our entire community proud, and fills us with hope for a future of global drug peace that at least one BC judge has signed up for. If DULF opens up again I won't be using their services, but I will buy the t-shirt.

Laura, Vancouver: It's been years since a news story has given me such a sense of hope. I feel so proud of Eris and Jeremy for the risk they took and their tenacity in this fight.

Maggie, Ottawa: A close family member of mine did graduate research on people who signed up for Safer Supply in Ontario; from her findings, I learned how the efforts of people like yourselves truly make a difference in a community that is not just marginalized but demonized. Non-judging, practical solutions that keep people alive and connect them to healthcare, housing, and other supports, is a herculean and heroic mission. Thank you for stepping up and leading, when governments are failing to offer thoughtful policies or adequate resources.

Robert Demorest, Richmond, BC: Congratulations to the best activists ever! When is the victory celebration?

A declaration of invalidity regarding section 5(2) of the CDSA is appropriate. The legislature should be given a full opportunity to craft its own response to the issues identified in this ruling. The existing legislative scheme is capable of accommodating a range of responses that address the defects, including legislative amendment and regulatory reform that can address the FDA regime and provide structure to exemption decisions under section 56 of the CDSA...
I make the following orders:
1)    Pursuant to s 52(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982, I declare that section 5(2) of the CDSA is of no force or effect because it unjustifiably infringes sections 7 and 15 of the Charter;
2)    The declaration of invalidity is suspended for six months from the date of this Order; and
3)    Pursuant to section 24(1) of the Charter, the convictions against Jeremy Kalicum and Eris Nyx are hereby stayed.
“The Honourable Madam Justice Murray”

Read the legal decision by Justice Catherine Murray.