Canadian who opened store selling tested hard drugs dies of overdose
The man behind a guerrilla harm-reduction initiative in Vancouver has died, and his family is grieving the unexpected loss.
The BC Coroners Service confirmed Monday it is investigating the circumstances surrounding Jerry Martin’s death.
“As we are very early in the process of trying to determine all of the facts, I have no additional information available at this time,” Ryan Panton with the Coroners Service told Daily Hive.
Martin gained national attention when he opened The Drugs Store in downtown Vancouver — a mobile shop selling MDMA, cocaine, and opioids tested to be free of contaminants such as fentanyl.
Martin was arrested on the illicit dispensary’s opening day, and the store-on-wheels was confiscated along with cash and Martin’s body armour.
Martin’s brother confirmed on social media that he died of a drug overdose — and traces of fentanyl were found in his system.
“I love my brother so much,” Thomas Martin wrote on Facebook. “[He] was a great man, an awesome brother. It was to me a total shock.”
Martin had been planning to launch a legal challenge following his arrest, arguing that people need access to safe drugs under Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which entitles people to life, liberty, and security of person.
He was on a mission to reduce the number of drug overdoses, after losing his brother to an overdose in 2022. Launching The Drugs Store was just the first step in his quest to bring a real safe supply to Canadians.
With files from Daily Hive’s Nikitha Martins
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