The group had received $200,000 from Vancouver Coastal Health to assist with overdose prevention and drug checking. The health authority confirmed that contract is being cancelled on Oct. 31, following a request from Addictions Minister Jennifer Whiteside. “That particular organization has had its contract cancelled. It’s had its lease cancelled by the health authority that provided that funding to them,” Premier David Eby said during an unrelated news conference Tuesday. “It’s unfortunate because they were providing essential life-saving work. But they were also breaking the law, which we will not tolerate.” During question period on Tuesday, B.C. United MLA Mike de Jong said the Drug User Liberation Front is using cryptocurrency to buy drugs from organized crime sources online which amounts to “taxpayer-funded drug trafficking.” The MLA for Abbotsford West demanded a forensic audit of “every penny” that went to the group and to the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, which has also handed out tested drugs. Whiteside refused to tell reporters whether she knew that the Drug User Liberation Front was buying illegal drugs, despite those activities being widely publicized for more than a year.
Drug User Liberation Front loses B.C. health authority funding over illegal drug purchase
