B.C. Supreme Court stays DULF founders' convictions, rules parts of drug law unconstitutional
A B.C. Supreme Court judge stayed the drug trafficking convictions of Drug User Liberation Front founders Jeremy Kalicum and Eris Nyx after finding that Canada's Controlled Drugs and Substances Act unconstitutionally lacks a pathway for non-medicalized safer supply programs. Parliament has been given six months to create one.
A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has stayed the drug trafficking convictions of Drug User Liberation Front (DULF) founders Jeremy Kalicum and Eris Nyx, ruling that parts of Canada's Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) are unconstitutional.
Justice Catherine Murray found that the CDSA unjustifiably infringes on two sections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by depriving individuals of their right to life and security of the person. The court determined that the legislation is unconstitutional because it fails to provide a legal pathway for non-medicalized safer supply programs amid British Columbia's toxic drug crisis.
Kalicum and Nyx were originally found guilty in November 2025 of possessing cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking following a 2023 police raid. Charges in the case began in 2024.
The ruling follows years of efforts by DULF to operate legally. In July 2022, Health Canada denied the organization's application for an exemption to run a compassion club, stating that acquiring drugs on the dark web was not a viable option under the CDSA. Despite this, the B.C. minister of health provided DULF with a free storefront in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, which was designated as an overdose prevention site. During its first year, the DULF pilot project recorded no overdoses involving the substances provided at the site.
British Columbia declared a public health emergency related to the drug crisis in 2016. Justice Murray has given Parliament six months to establish a way to allow for a pathway to non-medicalized safer supply.