SAFER THAN CIGARETTES? –
July 16, 2021 – “In British Columbia, we have a long-standing overdose crisis,” Nyx told Newsweek. “That crisis is actually caused by the failure of the regime of prohibition. A hundred years after all these laws have been imposed, we noticed that there was the production of a very volatile drug market, where drugs have become very unpredictable.
“Folks who are using them have been dying in massive numbers, there’s been 20,000 deaths in the last five years. When they go and buy drugs, they do not know what the contents of those drugs are,” she added. “One day it could be 5 percent fentanyl, the next it could be mixed with PCP or ketamine. It’s that volatility that’s caused by this prohibitionist regime that the protest and these actions are criticizing … Our point is regulate the supply of drugs to prevent these overdoses that are occurring because the street supply is unpredictable.” Calling the loss of life to drug overdose “totally unnecessary,” Nyx shared with Newsweek that on the day of the protest and drug distribution the tone was kept “light” as the drugs were safely distributed.
The groups also invited Councillor Jean Swanson to partake in the drug distribution. Swanson tweeted about her involvement: “I got to hand out safe drugs today with VANDU And DULF. 6 deaths a day from poison drugs is way too many. 1 is too many. Safe supply now!!”
