The group's members have been actively involved in lobbying for support of Insite, North America's first safe injection site, located in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver.

[6] A few dozen people first met in Oppenheimer Park on 9 September 1997 in response to messages posted by Livingston on utility poles throughout the Downtown Eastside.

[5] The assembled group of people decided to form an organization, and adopted the name Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users a year later.

[13] In recent years, VANDU has been engaging with the Drug Users Liberation Front (DULF)[14] to provide "safe supply" services.

[15] The group handed out cocaine, meth and heroin to users in July 2021 in which city councilor Jean Swanson participated in the distribution.