Vancouver Man Openly Selling Hard Drugs at ‘The Drugs Store’ Arrested

A Vancouver Police Department patch is seen on an officer's uniform in a file photo. (The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck)

Jerry Martin, 51, opened his mobile The Drugs Store in downtown Vancouver on May 3 to sell cocaine, crack, methamphetamine, and heroin. Martin first announced his plans to open this store in January, when British Columbia decriminalized the possession of small amounts of these substances.

He told media he understood the risk of arrest but was ready to do it anyway to provide users with a “safe  supply.” He was arrested on May 4 and released pending his appearance in court. He is forbidden from returning to the Downtown Eastside in the meantime.

“We remain committed in our position that drug trafficking will continue to be the subject of enforcement,” Constable Tania Visintin of the Vancouver Police Department said in a release.

Martin’s lawyer, Paul Lewin, told The Epoch Times he will not comment on the case. “If Mr. Martin is charged with selling controlled substances, it is his intention to challenge the constitutionality of those laws,” Lewin told the Daily Star in January.

Martin wanted to be arrested to gain attention and raise funds for launching this legal challenge, he told Global News earlier this week.

‘Harm Promotion, Not Harm Reduction’

“Vancouver’s ‘The Drugs Store’ is about harm promotion, not harm reduction,” said Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions President Kevin Sabet in an emailed statement.

Sabet advocates for addiction recovery rather than the safe-supply approach, which he says continues to feed the addiction. “People who use drugs deserve to live a full life in recovery from addiction, and they deserve quality treatment and care. They don’t deserve to be consigned to addiction and misery,” he said.

Martin is a former addict and has said he believes a safer supply will prevent overdoses and other dangers associated with obtaining drugs, such as getting robbed or assaulted. Martin tested the drugs he was selling for fentanyl.

Others have taken a similar approach to Martin’s amid B.C.’s decriminalization.

Others Selling ‘Safe Supply’ on BC Streets

An organization called Drug User Liberation Front sells hard drugs at cost on Vancouver’s streets. The drugs have been tested for fentanyl.

Co-founder Jeremy Kalicum told The Epoch Times in March that his members are at risk of arrest, but given the current regulatory climate, he doesn’t expect prosecution.

While the possession of 2.5 grams of cocaine and MDMA, along with opioids and methamphetamine, is temporarily decriminalized in B.C. (from Jan. 31, 2023, to Jan. 31, 2026), sale to the general public is still prohibited.

Kalicum said he recognizes there are no “safe drugs,” but he believes that offering a cleaner supply helps.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has criticized B.C.’s relatively open drug policy for causing overdose deaths.

“They’ve allowed heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, and other drugs to flood our streets,” Poilievre told NTD Television, The Epoch Times’ sister media, earlier this year. “It has created hell on earth in parts of our major cities, particularly east central Vancouver.”

He said on Twitter March 3 that the answer to addiction is “more treatment and recovery—not more poison.”

The Vancouver Police Department did not reply to an inquiry from The Epoch Times as of publication as to whether they are aware of the Drug User Liberation Front and what action they might take against such groups.