Is Safe Supply Making the Opioid Crisis Worse?

The opioid crisis presents no easy solutions. For the last decade, Canadians have embraced the philosophy of harm reduction: making drug use safe in settings where overdoses can be reversed, needles are clean and drugs are tested for purity (this is known as safe supply). British Columbia has been at the vanguard of this approach.

But a growing chorus of critics argue that safe supply makes things worse. They say that doctor-prescribed hydromorphone is sometimes diverted from patients and traded on the street. They believe law enforcement should crack down on dealers and prioritize safety in the streets and parks around safe injection sites. The tide is turning.

That philosophical course correction is bad news for two young safe-supply advocates in Vancouver. In 2020, Jeremy Kalicum and Eris Nyx co-founded the Drug User Liberation Front, a group that sold untainted cocaine, meth and heroin, which Kalicum and Nyx bought off the dark web. Last fall, the pair were arrested and later charged with possession for the purposes of drug trafficking. They face jail time.

Omar Mouallem has written a gripping account of their operation in his story “The War for Drugs.” He describes how Kalicum and Nyx navigated the black market and gained support from lawyers and academics who believe in their cause. The two activists are now in the midst of a legal drama that highlights the ideological battle happening across the country. Are they heroic helpers who have saved lives or reckless law-breakers who have contributed to the bedlam of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside? That’s the question at the centre of Mouallem’s riveting story.

—Sarah Fulford, editor-in-chief

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