Hands off the Drug User Liberation Front!

On Oct. 25, 2023, the revolutionary group Drug User Liberation Front experienced severe repression from the Canadian state. This group, whose stated mission is to help drug users get a safe supply and other resources, was effectively shut down after its founding members — Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum — were arrested and forbidden to contact each other or the DULF compassion club. 

Jeremy Kalicum and Eris Nyx. Photo: Jackie Dives

Their original court date, Jan. 16, 2024, was pushed back by prosecutors. They have still not been charged with anything as of this writing.

A compassion club offers pure, adulterant-free drugs to people who need them. Contrary to the “War on Drugs” rhetoric that all a drug user has to do to get better is go to rehab or enter treatment of some kind, drug users know that not everyone has access to treatment or the desire to enter treatment.

Make no mistake: Drug abuse is a political problem, and when people who address it progressively and with care for users are arrested or otherwise put into the misnamed “criminal justice” system, they are, in fact, political targets. Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum deserve rewards for their hard work and for keeping people alive. They should not be put in jail or into the legal system.

Workers World Party has consistently opposed state repression and mass incarceration as a “solution” to the problem of drug use. For decades, the party has advanced the slogan, “Fight drugs with jobs, not jails.” It is in this spirit, and the spirit of defending political prisoners, that we offer our solidarity to the Drug User Liberation Front, its leaders and to those who depended on the safe supply of drugs they provided.

End the Canadian government’s campaign against Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum! Down with the War on Drugs!