VANCOUVER — One of the founders of a “compassion club” that sold safety-tested heroin, cocaine and other drugs told a B.C. Supreme Court constitutional challenge that they felt “invincible” and hoped media coverage of their operation would spur public conversation.
But Jeremy Kalicum of the Drug User Liberation Front says he now believes the publicity led to their arrests.
He told the court in Vancouver that he and co-founder Eris Nyx were uncomfortable engaging with the media, but coverage of the club’s operations added to public knowledge and aligned with the club’s principles of transparency and accountability.
Kalicum and Nyx were found guilty this month on charges of possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking, but their conviction is on hold until the constitutional challenge has been decided.
Kalicum told the court under cross-examination by Crown lawyer Oren Bick that they knew the club was controversial, with government involvement putting them in the public eye, and a harsh public backlash and political pressure led to their closure in October 2023.
The court heard earlier that the group had been funded by the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority to test illicit street drugs, but DULF went further by buying and testing drugs to distribute in order to prevent further overdoses.
Kalicum said no drugs were bought with health authority money, drug purchases were financed by donations, and sales were made at cost to club members.
He said he now believes engaging with the media and putting the club in the public eye is what led to their arrests, and he feels that they were “thrown under the bus by multiple institutions.”
Bick questioned Kalicum about the data and research they were producing and conducting on more than three dozen club members who accessed the club’s drugs and site, and Kalicum says they published information about the club to be transparent about their work.
A post to DULF’s website, dated March 3, 2025, says its legal challenge is seeking to prove that a section of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act that prohibits possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking is unconstitutional and “its enforcement is killing the very people it purports to protect.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 26, 2025.
Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press
