Audio recordings reveal disruption plot by harm reduction activists

Group discussed dying water fountain red: 'that makes for pretty rad images in the media'

Image: Harm reduction activists debating how to disrupt and intimidate their opponents during a May 28 Zoom meeting.

[This article originally appeared in the National Post, which granted Break The Needle permission to republish the first six paragraphs. Click here to read the full article on the National Post’s website]

According to audio recordings obtained by National Post, a coalition of harm reduction activists have organized a sophisticated campaign to disrupt and intimidate their opponents at a high-profile conference taking place Thursday in Vancouver.  

The conference in question, the “PROSPER Symposium,” was organized by the Foundation For Drug Policy Solutions and features voices who advocate for recovery-oriented care in lieu of radical harm reduction.

The event’s speaker list includes several addiction doctors, as well as former senior White House drug policy advisor Kevin Sabet and Stanford professor Dr. Keith Humphreys, who have been leading figures in the development of American and British drug policy. Speeches from BC United Leader Kevin Falcon, BC Conservative Leader John Rustad and Port Coquitlam mayor Brad West, who is affiliated with the NDP, are included in the agenda. 

Upon learning of the conference’s existence, Canadian harm reduction activists developed a plan for disruption. National Post obtained audio recordings and screenshots of two large Zoom meetings, which occurred on May 21 and 28, wherein approximately 20 activists, led by the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), consolidated their plans. 

Attendees included staff from the BC Civil Liberties Association, BC Health Coalition, Unity Health Toronto and two influential B.C. government bodies: Vancouver Coastal Health and First Nations Health Authority. 

“I don’t think we have, unfortunately, a chance to kind of really shut it down,” said a VANDU community organizer, during the May 21 meeting. Unable to totally silence their opponents, he and his fellow activists focussed on disruption and discreditation instead. …

[READ THE REST OF THE STORY ON THE NATIONAL POST]

The following recording excerpts show harm reduction activists discussing their plots.