DULF Challenge: Health Canada Official Flounders on the Stand

published on January 29, 2026 by Dustin Godfrey in Filter

A senior Canadian bureaucrat struggled on the witness stand to reconcile past statements by the federal government with its claim in court that it was not completely closed off to the idea of a non-medical safe supply model.

The January 26 hearing was for a constitutional challenge to the criminal convictions of Drug User Liberation Front (DULF) co-founders Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum, for operating an unsanctioned Vancouver compassion club selling tested heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine to 47 members.

Eric Costen, who has held various senior roles with Health Canada, didn’t willingly attend—he had to be subpoenaed to appear…