Solidarity with Drug User Liberation Front (DULF)
The following resolution was approved in a General Membership Meeting by CUPE 2278 members on October 22, 2025
‘Because:
In 2016, a public health emergency was declared by the British Columbia provincial government in response to the overdose crisis in BC. Originally declared as an overdose crisis, this public health emergency is now recognized as a toxic drug crisis, emerging primarily from the unpredictable nature of the unregulated drug market. As of April 2025, more than 16,000 people have died from unregulated drug overdoses since the BC provincial government declared a public health emergency.
In 2022, Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum founded the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF). Over the course of 14 months, DULF operated a compassion club, a non-profit initiative providing tested drugs to individuals already engaged in substance use, at risk of overdose, and residing in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. This evidence-based program was partly funded by the government through Vancouver Coastal Health. Nyx and Kalicum have published four academic peer-reviewed articles on the benefits of this novel harm reduction model.
For their administering of this compassion club, Nyx and Kalicum are facing criminal charges under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Arguing that they had an exemption to this law, they are now engaged in a legal battle to defend harm reduction, challenge outdated drug laws, and demand justice for those disproportionately affected by the toxic drug crisis. To support this legal challenge, DULF has been raising funds and is currently short $55 000.
CUPE 2278 is committed to developing strong and solidaristic working relationships with the public we serve and the communities in which we work and live.
CUPE 2278 members, in an education session on harm reduction last year, heard from members of CUPE 5536 (BC Harm Reduction Workers) on the connections between building the power of the labour movement and implementing the principles of harm reduction. Both harm reduction and a strong labour movement are central to challenging the violence and exploitation of the present capitalist system.
Be it Resolved That:
CUPE 2278 donates $5000 to the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF) to support their ongoing legal battle.
CUPE 2278 continues to encourage its members and the broader community to support the principles of harm reduction, including by politically and financially supporting the efforts of DULF.