A British Columbia Supreme Court judge is expected to rule today on a constitutional challenge from two harm-reduction activists convicted of drug trafficking who argued they were doing it to reduce the harms caused by toxic drugs.
Jeremy Kalicum and Eris Nyx founded the compassion club know as the Drug User Liberation Front and were found guilty last year after Vancouver police raided the club in 2023.
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Justice Catherine Murray put their convictions on hold to hear the constitutional challenge, where their lawyers argued that forcing drug users to rely on unregulated street drugs violates the Charter of Rights.
Murray said in her ruling that Nyx and Kalicum’s intentions were good as they tried to save lives, but buying pure drugs on the dark web and selling them to members was not covered by an exemption that allowed for drug storage and testing.
The judge said they were “agitators” who wanted to make change and were aware that they ran the risk of a trafficking prosecution.
Their lawyers had argued that closing the club violated the rights of those who are disabled by addiction and raised their risk of death from an unregulated, illicit drug supply.
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