cpl. tania visintin said vancouver police’s enforcement priorities target those who “produce and traffic harmful drugs” instead of users, although the force “does not support safe supply bought off the dark web.”
kalicum, addictions researcher and former drug checker with the b.c. centre on substance use, admitted he’s scared of being arrested for purchasing illicit drugs.
“but w
hat is our safety compared to the lives of thousands of people a year currently dying from overdoses?” he said.
b.c. is on track to eclipse 2020’s record high of 1,734 fatal overdoses. by july 31, there were 1,204 deaths in b.c. this year due to drug toxicity, including extreme concentrations of fentanyl and carfentanil mixed into street drugs, discovered by post mortem testing.
the liberation front has given the federal government until oct. 15 to make a decision, said kalicum.
“if we are denied, we will have to pursue legal action. we won’t stop.”
swanson likened the group’s harm-reduction model to supervised injection sites, which were only granted a federal exemption to operate legally in canada in 2003.
dan small, a founder of insite, north america’s first supervised injection site, is familiar with the exemption process.