Man planning to sell heroin, meth from Vancouver storefront hopes to save lives

Jerry Martin is a former drug addict, and has been clean for 15 years. His brother is one of the thousands of British Columbians who has died from illicit drug toxicity since the overdose crisis was declared a public health emergency in 2016.

Opening a brick-and-mortar store is one way Martin thinks he can make progress on connecting people to a safe, tested supply of drugs like heroin, meth, cocaine, and MDMA amid record numbers of deaths from poisoned substances.

"A lot of these people take a risk every day to go get their drugs, if it isn't clean or safe, or they put themselves in dangerous situations," Martin said.

"A lot of predators out there get girls to do things for their drugs, whether they've got the money or not. I don't think it's very comfortable for anyone, so they can come here and not have to worry about any of that," he continued.

His goal is to open a shop as soon as the province's new drug decriminalization policy takes effect on Jan. 31. B.C.'s three-year, first-in-Canada pilot program will allow adults to possess small amounts of drugs for personal use.

"To the people out there that think it's a bad idea, you have to look at it from the user's angle and the family of that user," he said.

He also hopes through education, his future customers will follow the path he did and choose to get clean.

While it's currently illegal to sell these drugs, Martin’s lawyer, Paul Lewin, said there is a possibility that could change.

"Vancouver is a very progressive part of the country. And it might sound strange in some parts of the country, but Vancouver is also suffering from a terrible opioid scourge and it's really opioid poisoning is what's going on," said Lewin.

"People are dying. So it's a huge problem and a safe supply would address that," he continued.

More than 1,827 people died from illicit drug use within the first 10 months of 2022, according to the latest report from the BC Coroners Service.

Lewin explained that an argument for legalizing the sale of a safe supply of drugs could be made under Section 7 of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which enshrines the right to life, liberty, and security of the person and says that the government can not pass laws that infringe on those rights arbitrarily.

"We could argue that the laws are arbitrary because it's making people less safe, not more safe," said Lewin.

Lewin says he is prepared to launch a constitutional challenge of the if and when Martin is criminally charged.

"And if he's successful, then they have to change the law," Lewin said.

Martin said he gets his supply tested to ensure it is safe, and plans to start selling it in Vancouver from his trailer if he can't secure a site for the store – even if it means he could get arrested. He says it's worth the risk if it means saving someone's life.

"I'm not too worried. I'll probably get bail," he said.