A Vancouver “compassion club” that had been funded by the British Columbia government has been raided by police on allegations of drug trafficking.
Vancouver police said Thursday that search warrants were served at the Downtown Eastside offices of the Drug User Liberation Front, and two homes linked to the investigation.
The group’s website says its “fulfilment centre” allows drug users to receive up to 14 grams of cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine per week, with the substances tested for safety before sale “at cost.”
The raids come after weeks of pressure from the Opposition BC United for the government to investigate the activities of DULF, saying in a news release last month that it was “unacceptable that public money is being used to purchase illicit drugs” on the dark web.
Vancouver Coastal Health’s website says the Drug User Liberation Front Society received $200,000 of public funding in 2021-2022.
The party said Monday that there should be a forensic audit of money given to the group, and on Thursday said the police raids came “in light of” advocacy by BC United.
But Insp. Phil Heard, commanding officer of the Vancouver Police organized crime section, said Thursday that the investigation that began in September was initiated by the police, and did not involve any other organization or level of government.
Police said two people connected with DULF were arrested and released and that investigators will consider recommending possible drug charges.
Heard said the police support progressive drug policies and believe harm-reduction strategies reduce the number of people killed by toxic drugs, but organizations must follow the law.
“We are steadfast in our insistence that all strategies deployed must be fully compliant with the law. Anyone who ignores the law or fails to obtain the required legal exemptions should expect to be the subject of enforcement action,” he said.
The raid against the activist group was addressed in the B.C. Legislature on Thursday, when Opposition Leader Kevin Falcon said the government’s drug decriminalization strategies were “reckless,” and the NDP had knowingly supported funding for a group buying illegal drugs.
Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said the contract granted to DULF was to save lives, not to buy drugs, and when the government found out it had been doing so, the contract was cancelled.
He said the contract was for “drug testing,”
Elenore Sturko, BC United Opposition critic for mental health and addiction, said during question period that there was no way the raid should come as a surprise to Premier David Eby.
“The premier has ignored, dismissed and hand-waved this issue, and now there’s a criminal investigation,” she said.
Sturko asked if Eby would undertake an audit of other groups that advocate for drug users in the province to see if they are also involved in criminal activity. BC United has previously said the government was furthering the drug crisis by funding DULF and another group, the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, “instead of prioritizing treatment and recovery.”
Eby wasn’t in the house to answer, but Farnworth replied that the Opposition knew the contract was only for drug testing, “and to somehow suggest that government authorized or wanted funds to go to buy illegal drugs is just straight nonsense and they know it.”
Eby said during a news conference earlier this week that government rules for all non-profit organizations doing overdose-prevention work require that they stay within the law.
“It’s very straightforward. That particular organization has had its contract cancelled, it’s had its lease cancelled by the health authority that provided that funding to them. And it’s unfortunate because they were providing essential life-saving work but they were also breaking the law, which we will not tolerate.”
Farnworth was asked by reporters at the legislature what the impact of the closure of the drug-users group would have for those who use its services.
“What we wanted to ensure is that those people who need help get help,” he said. “I do know that the ministry and Vancouver Coastal are looking for other providers to be able to provide the services that the organization was supposed to be doing.”
Heard said police are encouraging people to “seek resources in the community.”
“The scope of the magnitude of the crisis is not lost on us,” he said, referring to the overdose death toll.
The BC Coroners Service reports that almost 13,000 people have died since the public-health emergency was declared in 2016.
“We’re committing to innovating, having uncomfortable conversations, but ultimately with anything that’s arrived at, it has to conform with the law. It has to be legal,” said Heard.
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