Nurses Condemn the Arrests of Safe Supply Providers

published on October 31, 2023 by Trevor Goodyear, Marilou Gagnon, Lauren Airth, Allie Slemon, Nancy Henderson, Sammy Iammarino, and Bernie Pauly in The Tyee

With drug poisoning (overdose) now the leading cause of death in British Columbia, there remains an urgent need to invest in and scale up safe supply programs in addition to supporting existing models, broadening the range of safe supply medications and removing barriers to access. We also need to address the root cause of this crisis: a toxic, unregulated drug supply.

What we do not need are more police crackdowns directed at people who are stepping up to save lives and who are forced to do so illegally because of government inaction.

As harm reduction nurses, we condemn the recent Vancouver Police Department arrests of Drug User Liberation Front organizers.

DULF uses a compassion club model to openly distribute tested supplies of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine for people’s personal use. They support their members to have control over what drugs they procure by checking the ingredients and screening for adulterants, such as fentanyl, benzodiazepines and tranquillizers…