Canada: “Hung out to dry” — DULF pair convicted but plan challenge

DULF’s pilot project worked,” a Supreme Court of British Columbia judge stated on November 7, referring to the compassion club that sold tested heroin, meth and cocaine to members in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

Justice Catherine Murray pointed to the fact that none of the club’s 47 members overdosed on the supply in the first year of operations, citing a local public health official in calling it a promising sign of the model’s efficacy.

But the compassion club was nonetheless illegal by the letter of the law, Murray found. She convicted Drug User Liberation Front founders Jeremy Kalicum and Eris Nyx of three counts each of possession for the purpose of trafficking. They could ultimately face prison time.

Still, in handing down the verdict, Murray made comments sympathetic to Nyx and Kalicum—and her implied criticisms of law enforcement and politicians teed the pair up for their pending constitutional challenge.

After Murray’s statement, lawyer Tim Dickson confirmed that the defense would be filing arguments that the charges violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Their challenge is set to be heard from November 24.