About

In response to epidemic rates of HIV/AIDS infection and general social unrest in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, VANDU formed in January 1998 to address issues of poverty, social exclusion, criminalization, and ancillary illness from the ground up.


VANDU is now funded by the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (VCHA) as part of its harm reduction strategy. As a registered non-profit, VANDU’s primary objective is to increase capacity of people who use illicit drugs to live healthy and productive lives. This is accomplished through peer-based support and education.


VANDU holds several weekly support group meetings, and its membership is actively involved in public awareness and education campaigns (through media, conferences, and outreach), hospital visits, and community and legal advocacy.


Since 1998, VANDU’s membership has grown to over 2000 strong, making VANDU the largest organization of its kind in the world. VANDU has retained a high profile in the public eye, through recent media events such as Dan Rather Reports, and the 2004 Genie Award-winning documentary Fix: Story of an Addicted City, which chronicles the events leading up to the opening of North America’s first safe injections site. VANDU proudly celebrated its ten-year anniversary in 2008.


Click HERE to download a printable (PDF) version of VANDU’s "First Ten Years" timeline.




In keeping with our goals and beliefs, VANDU:

• is committed to increasing the capacity of people who use drugs to live healthy productive lives. We do this by affirming and strengthening people who use drugs to reduce harm to themselves and their communities. We organize in our communities to save lives by promoting local, regional and national harm reduction education, interventions and Peer Support.
  
  
• challenges traditional client/provider relationships and empowers people who use drugs to design and implement harm reduction interventions.
  
  
• believes in every person’s right to health and well-being. We also believe that all people are competent to protect themselves, their loved ones and their communities from drug related harm. understands that drug use ranges from total abstinence to severe abuse – we recognize that some ways of using drugs are clearly safer than others.
  
  
• recognizes that the realities of poverty, racism, social isolation, past trauma, mental illness and other inequalities increase people’s vulnerability to addiction and reduce their capacity for effectively reducing drug related harm.
  

CONSTITUTION (partial)

1. The name of the society is:


VANCOUVER AREA NETWORK OF DRUG USERS


2. The purposes of the society are:


a)To improve the quality of life for people who use illicit drugs;


b)To encourage the development of user based support and education programs;


c) To develop and encourage peer support training at all levels of education and outreach;


d) To develop local networks and coalitions of informed and empowered people who will work to ensure public policies and practices are favourable to people who use illicit drugs;


e) To provide support, training and information so that users and their families will have an understanding of and an impact on the systems that serve them;


f) To work independently and in partnership with individuals, associations, agencies and other user groups in the development and implementation of user defined harm reduction strategies and in developing positive public images of people who use illicit drugs.


g) To keep informed and to inform the public concerning the social, economic, health and treatment issues related to the use of illicit drugs;


h) To purchase, sell and/or lease property, equipment and materials that are deemed necessary to accomplish the society’s purposes.




Click HERE to download a printable (PDF) version of VANDU’s "First Ten Years" timeline.