B.C. court stays trafficking convictions for drug harm-reduction activists

A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has stayed the drug trafficking convictions of Jeremy Kalicum and Eris Nyx, the founders of the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF). The activists were convicted last year after a 2023 police raid revealed they were purchasing pure drugs on the dark web to sell to club members as a harm-reduction measure against toxic drug supplies.

Justice Catherine Murray ruled that certain parts of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act are unconstitutional, finding that the act infringes upon rights guaranteed under Sections 7 and 15 of the Charter. The judge noted that the applicants performed a “public interest service at considerable cost to themselves” by bringing the constitutional challenge.

While the convictions have been tossed, Justice Murray has suspended the ruling for six months. This period is intended to allow Parliament to implement a plan that permits a non-medicalized safer supply program to operate legally.