Government of Canada Updates Prohibition of Certain Toxic Substances Regulations - Blake, Cassels & Graydon

In a watershed moment for the drug user liberation movement, the BC Supreme Court has ruled that section 5(2) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) – the linchpin of Canada's drug trafficking prohibition regime – is unconstitutional. Canada has six months to re-legislate in accordance with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the findings of the Court. The case centers on Jeremey Kalicum and Eris Nyx – co-founders of the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF), a compassion club that offered supervised consumption and low-barrier access to a rigorously tested drug supply in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (DTES) from August 2022 until October 2023. Kalicum and Nyx were charged and convicted of drug trafficking under s. 5(2) of the CDSA. In response, the pair argued that section 5(2) is unenforceable, because it violates sections 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the right to life, liberty, and security of the person, and the right to equal treatment under the law).