In a bold move to combat the overdose crisis sweeping Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, local resident Jerry Martin unveiled The Drugs Store, a pioneering mobile shop dedicated to selling tested, safer supplies of heroin, meth, cocaine, and MDMA. However, less than a day after its grand opening, Martin found himself in handcuffs, his ambitious venture abruptly cut short by law enforcement.
Stationed in a neighborhood ravaged by the overdose epidemic, the mobile shop aimed to disrupt the rampant drug trade by providing substances free of the deadly contaminant fentanyl. Martin, driven by personal tragedy and the urgency of the crisis, had hoped to make a difference.
The Vancouver police, however, viewed Martin’s actions through a different lens. The day after the store’s launch, they announced the arrest of a man accused of drug trafficking, linked to an “illicit drug dispensary operating in the Downtown Eastside.” Evidence was gathered swiftly once the suspect began selling drugs out of the mobile trailer, stationed strategically near Main and Cordova streets.
“We support measures aimed at improving public safety for people who use drugs, including harm reduction services and decriminalization,” Constable Tania Visintin said in a press release. “However, we remain committed in our position that drug trafficking will continue to be the subject of enforcement.”
During the operation, police seized two vehicles, body armor, and Canadian currency, with Martin subsequently banned from returning to the Downtown Eastside as part of his bail conditions.
The Drugs Store, a beacon of defiant yellow sandwich boards listing drug prices, was parked conspicuously next to a police van. Martin, protected by a stab-proof vest, operated from behind a plexiglas window, striving to match street prices for his safer supplies.
In a previous interview with VICE News, Martin had admitted that his plan was, ultimately, to get arrested. In collaboration with his lawyer, Paul Lewin, he intended to launch a constitutional challenge against drug prohibition laws that, he argued, fostered a toxic drug supply responsible for countless Canadian deaths.
“He would allege that laws that prevent a safe supply and result in death by poisoning contravene section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and must be struck down,” Lewin wrote in a letter to Martin’s potential business associates. Martin, already carrying a cannabis trafficking conviction, was undeterred by the prospect of further legal battles.
The opening and subsequent closure of The Drugs Store marks a dramatic chapter in Martin’s journey, fueled by personal tragedy and a deep-seated desire to enact change. Inspired by the loss of his stepbrother Gord Rennie to a drug overdose, Martin’s audacious endeavor stands as a testament to his passion and commitment to challenging the status quo of the ongoing drug crisis. As the dust settles on his arrest, one thing remains clear: Martin’s battle is far from over.
