P.O.W.E.R Mission Statement

Led by VANDU: Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users

COMMUNITY MISSION STATEMENT

“Police protect the rich and powerful, and they treat us like third class citizens” – Aero, founding member of POWER

 “No group of oppressed people ever attained liberation without the involvement of those directly affected by this oppression” – VANDU Manifesto

From the early days of colonial Canada to today’s urban warfare on Hastings Street, police have been the frontline enforcers of the drug war, including by criminalizing those of us who depend on public space.

As users and researchers, we know police power is not only in the hands of the cop on the street. Police personnel and their priorities pervade all levels and branches of government, especially those that most affect the lives of drug users.

Whether it’s so-called ‘decriminalization,’ park bylaws, or supportive housing, the policies that affect drug users’ daily lives are informed by police ‘data’ and opinion. Meanwhile, we are shut out from real say in our lives despite our expertise and our experience.

Drug users continue to be stigmatized and scapegoated as a root cause of problems in society. Whether through physical violence or the stories they tell about us, the police dehumanize our community and normalize the deaths and violence.

If we can’t trust police on the beat, how can we trust their ‘data’?

POWER is a drug user-led group of organizers, researchers, and survivors of police encounters dedicated to real community safety through power in numbers: by building solidarity between people who use drugs and all other oppressed peoples, and by collecting data independent of police and police-related organizations.

There is a clear gap between the lived experience and understanding at VANDU, as well as within other community groups, and in what the police describe they do. Drug users report that they do not feel safe around police, especially when others are not recording or witnessing what is occurring in the Downtown Eastside and beyond.

POWER questions the role of police in society and why it continues to increase.

For lack of accountability and accurate reporting from police,  including harm caused, the community at VANDU has formed the group POWER.

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