Hundreds March for DULF in Vancouver

About three hundred supporters of the Drug User Liberation Front rallied in downtown Vancouver at the call of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, to denounce the recent arrest of its founding members, threatening the survival of the compassion club model credited with saving countless lives that would otherwise have been lost to the toxic street drug supply over the past year.

The event answered a wave of vicious political rhetoric against the safe drug supply movement over the course of the summer, which culminated with Elenore Sturko loudly denouncing the provincial government for funding an organisation openly engaging in illegal activity. On the flip side, it also came within days of Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe commenting that “If you see someone in a burning house you feel somewhat justified to smash a window.”

The arrests of Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum came at no one’s surprise, but still came as a shock to the harm reduction community. One could argue Friday’s rally actually began on Monday with a Zoom meeting that attracted no less than 92 advocates from all over the province. There was this feeling that the government had crossed a line that made a trip to Vancouver to protest worth the while. As for those who couldn’t make it, there were solidarity events organised in Victoria, and also as far away as Toronto and Ottawa.

Those of us who made it to the Vancouver event swarmed the intersection of Main and Hastings as one, surrounding speakers who came forward to express their outrage to the world. To each one of them, the term ‘compassion club’ isn’t merely rhetorical but quite literal: it is about saving lives. The Drug User Liberation Front had achieved what our government couldn’t bring itself to do: deliver tested drugs to those in need, who would otherwise play Russian roulette with a street drug supply which has claimed over 13’000 lives since the provincial government declared a state of emergency in 2016. And it worked: to date, not a single overdose death was recorded among its beneficiaries.

That DULF applied for an exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, only to be summarily rejected, makes accusations of it engaging in criminal activity in contrast hollow. This is why speakers likewise called for defying unjust laws, reminding the crowd that the history of harm reduction is paved with acts of civil disobedience, meant not to persuade the opposition but to disgust it from fighting until the crime becomes policy.

The marchers then took their grievances down Hastings to Victory Square, demanding a safe drug supply and freedom for DULF founders while chanting unflattering slogans to the authorities, especially our VPD escort. More speakers would come; some like Garth Mullins were regulars and expected, while others like Leslie McBain, cofounder of Moms Stop The Harm, weren’t. The outrage was such that even more well-behaved advocates, who normally would not march alongside VANDU, decided it was time to show solidarity with those fighting on the front lines.

It remains to be seen whether the DULF founders will be charged. Either way, the future looks grim for the movement. Speeches at the square were closed by Vince Tao of VANDU, who listed eighteen members who died this year, the latest of which he learned of today. The list featured prominent homeless advocates that the beleaguered community could ill afford to lose, such as Chrissy Brett. To the rest of the world, these deceased people are just statistics. To the Downtown Eastside community and its allies, these are saints and martyrs, never to be forgotten. This is why the crusade against the failed drug war will not stop, as long as even one of these warriors remains standing.