Gee, who could’ve seen that coming?
The tragic irony here is something that Hollywood writers strive for.
But then, you realize that this happened to an actual person and not some character, and it becomes heartbreaking.
For years, the left-leaning province of British Columbia has been trying to get a grip on the rampant drug use in the cities. They pioneered the use of needle exchange programs and “harm reduction” in Canada, which seemed to only exacerbate drug use.
While drugs were becoming commonplace, and some areas of Vancouver were beginning to look like The Tenderloin in San Francisco, the far-left B.C. government decided that the best move would be to decriminalize small amounts of hard drugs for personal use.
In June 2022, the Government of Canada announced that it would give the province of British Columbia a three-year exemption from subsection 56(1) of Health Canada’s Controlled Drugs and Substances Act in order to allow them to decriminalize possession of 2.5 grams or less of drugs such as cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamines.
The exemption runs from January 31, 2023, to January 31, 2026, throughout the province of British Columbia.
Of course, this doesn’t do anything to mitigate the problem of fentanyl-laced drugs fuelling the overdose crisis plaguing North America.
So, back in May, Jerry Martin of Vancouver, B.C. decided to open up a shop to sell “safe” versions of these illicit drugs — even though the sale and trafficking of the drugs remains illegal in Canada.
He wasn’t too concerned about being charged. He was actually hoping to be arrested so that he could launch a Charter Rights challenge against the government.
Martin felt it was imperative to protect drug users and their families.
The drug crisis had hit him personally — he was a former addict that had started using at age 12 and had recently lost his brother from an overdose.
“We are trying to help curb overdoses and other dangers that happen from drug buying,” Martin told Global News at the time. “We are providing testing and supplies so people can do drugs safer.”
Besides, he had some experience — two years before marijuana was legalized in Canada, Martin ran a dispensary in the province of Saskatchewan where he used to provide medical marijuana to cancer patients for free.
According to news reports, Martin himself had been sober for 15 years before opening the mobile shop called “The Drugs Store” that sold cocaine, crack, heroin, meth, and MDMA, with the promise that the drugs were all tested and “100% fentanyl free.”
Here is the CTV News report about the shop opening:
Not quite two months later, and here’s how that worked out:
Despite his promises that the drugs that he sold were “fentanyl-free”, Martin apparently died of a fentanyl overdose.
Jerry Martin opened The Drugs Store out of a mobile trailer in the heart of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside selling drugs such as cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines that were advertised as clean with no impurities or harmful additives.
He died Friday after a suspected fentanyl overdose, reported VICE. He was 51.
His mother, Melodey Rennie, drove down from Red Deer, Alta., on Wednesday after receiving the news that Martin suffered a heart attack.
“I knew he wasn’t going to make it,” she told Postmedia News. “He was down for about 30 minutes with no oxygen to his brain.”
After his brain failed to register any sign of activity, Rennie made the decision to take him off life support on Friday.
There was fentanyl detected in Martin’s system, confirmed Rennie, 77.
Source: Vancouver Sun
It’s like a Shakespearean tragedy!
Always remember that there are individuals in all of these stories and there are people that loved them.
While most people might know Martin because of his illegal drug store, Mayleen said he was more than the headlines.
“I know he made some mistakes in his life,” she said. “In totality, he was a very good person.”
Said Rennie: “I just want people to know he’s not just the Drugs Store guy. He was somebody’s boy and somebody’s dad.”
Source: Vancouver Sun
The lesson that “drugs are bad” is one that we need to keep banging the drum on. It seems that far too many people just aren’t getting that message.
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Sources:
Government of Canada. “B.C. receives exemption to decriminalize possession of some illegal drugs for personal use.” June 1, 2022. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/news/2022/05/bc-receives-exemption-to-decriminalize-possession-of-some-illegal-drugs-for-personal-use.html
Chan, Cheryl. “Vancouver man who opened store selling hard drugs dies of a reported overdose.” Vancouver Sun. July 1, 2023. https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/vancouver-man-drugs-store-selling-hard-drugs-died-reported-overdose
Gouda, Kareem. “B.C. man who opened store selling tested hard drugs dies of overdose: family.” Global News. July 3, 2023. https://globalnews.ca/news/9808131/b-c-man-who-opened-store-selling-tested-hard-drugs-dies-of-overdose-family/
