A Vancouver man is opening up a first of its kind store in Canada..Upon securing a rental space within Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, 51-year-old Jerry Martin will try and open the country’s first drug store to offer cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, meth, and more to walk in shoppers..Calling his business the “Safe Supply Project,” Martin says he hopes to save lives by providing users with triple-tested, fentanyl free drugs at the never before seen operation in Vancouver.. DTESTwo individuals standing outside the entrance of a DTES convenience store for warmth. .Toxic drugs claimed the lives of at least 171 British Columbians in September, putting the province on track to surpass 2,000 such deaths for a second consecutive year..Now the leading cause of unnatural death in the province, the overdose crisis was declared a public health emergency in BC in 2016, and since then more than 10,500 British Columbians have died as a result of illicit drugs..One of those lives belonged to Martin’s brother, which is what motivated him to launch the Safe Supply Project..“That’s the main reason I stepped forward — that was a few months ago when I found him under a bridge in Mission,” Martin told the Western Standard.. DTES .Martin had already lost another brother to a brutal drug-related murder..“My brother was stabbed seven times in the back. So it is personal to me,” he said..Intending to “shift the paradigm” of how addiction and supply is viewed, Martin aims to provide people living with addiction a safe place to purchase drugs that have been rigorously tested for fentanyl..Roughly 100 times stronger than morphine, fentanyl can turn over a substantial profit for dealers while taking up as much space as a small envelope..Street doses of the synthetic opioid come in a variety of forms, whether it be colour, texture, or pressed into a pill form resembling legitimate prescription drugs. The potency can vary significantly, even in two seemingly identical doses purchased from the same source.. DTES .Fentanyl was detected in 88% of illicit drug deaths between July 2020 and June 2022, and despite the incessant cycle of arresting and releasing low to mid-level dealers in Metro Vancouver, drug users continue their consumption with little interruption. Even when police successfully infiltrate the upper echelons of black market hierarchies, the overall impact it has on illicit drug distribution is minuscule, bringing into question the efficacy of BC's drug policies..When it comes to “safe supply,” the division among British Columbians is clear, as the term often sends those who oppose it into a visceral frenzy. They'll note that there is nothing “safe” about using drugs such as heroin or crack cocaine.. DTES .However, the term isn’t used by Martin to suggest such substances don’t impact one’s health in a negative manner, which is plainly measurable, but rather that the product is free from potentially fatal substances such as fentanyl..Growing up poor and suffering unrelenting childhood abuse, Martin was introduced to drugs as a coping method at the age of 14 when an adult stranger pushed a needle into his arm at a neighbour’s house. By 15 Martin was an alcoholic and intravenous cocaine user, thus beginning a decades long struggle leading to many years living on the street.. DTESA Grumman truck is parked on the street and converted into a temporary shelter. .Similar stories of heinous childhood abuse are told by many amid the Downtown Eastside’s intertwining streets and alleyways. Another common theme among the dejected neighbourhood’s residents is physical injury and disability leading to prescribed opiate addiction and subsequently heroin. Traumatic brain injury is also prevalent..“People walk down the street looking at these people with disgust, like they’re not human. Not deserving to be a part of their society. They’re a Canadian just like anybody else, and I think they need more help than anybody,” said Martin.. DTES .An ex-gangster who sold drugs on the Downtown Eastside for years told the Western Standard synthetic opioids were killing users in high volume for at least five years without mainstream recognition, going “unnoticed until it started affecting middle to upper-class people.”.“I didn’t know what it was, but I knew that it was dropping people. I started selling opiates around 2012, but I was selling real heroin, not fentanyl,” he said..By 2016, fentanyl was regularly making headlines after it began turning up in cocaine and pressed pills being sold as pharmaceutical benzodiazepines.. Tested Drugs.MDMA, meth, crack cocaine, and cocaine. Martin said he wasn't selling heroin at the time of the interview because it wasn't "pure enough." .Martin highlights that users are forced to buy tainted and often lethal products as a result of drug laws, further noting “we have modern day resources available to improve the safety of drugs and the interactions that go hand in hand with this lifestyle.”.“I want to try and make sure it’s the same price as street, and also I’ve got to be careful not to step on too many toes,” said Martin..“What I’m doing will save lives. It’s not to take over anyone's business. A lot of these dealers out there use Dana’s service, but this will be the first time anything like this has ever been done here. It’s a storefront.”.Dana’s service is a free, Vancouver-based, anonymous drug testing service spearheaded by activist Dana Larsen.. Jerry Martin .When asked what Martin will do when the Vancouver Police Department comes knocking at his storefront drug operation, he says he — with help from his lawyer — has a game-plan up his sleeve, however little detail was provided..“Both the government and the police have called for safe supply, and nobody’s going to be filling that role for at least five years, and so I'm going to come in and do this just like we did with the cannabis dispensaries which all opened up under a grey area for years before weed legalization,” he said..“You’re going to see the same thing happen, we’ll just be the first to do it.”.In May the federal government announced British Columbians will be exempt from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act for possession up to 2.5 grams of opioids, meth, cocaine etc..BC is the first Canadian province to receive an exemption under the act, which will be in effect from Jan. 31, 2023 to Jan. 31, 2026, throughout the entire province..Martin says he believes the exemption will take some of the heat off his operation. He also says the store itself will take the heat off of his home, which was robbed several weeks ago. He said "a couple girls" knocked on his door, which served as a distraction before invaders forced their way in with machete and gun in hand..“Moving into a shop makes a huge difference. It takes it away from home,” he said, noting he’ll use storage units and make multiple drops a day at the store to ensure there’s never a large amount of drugs present at once..He’ll have security at the front and back, bullet proof glass, and cameras..Customers will be able to pay with cash or electronically..“We’re going to try and keep as much cash out of here as possible. We’ll do several drops a day, but homeless people will obviously have to bring cash,” he said, adding that no drugs will be going to minors.."ID will be required, but obviously a judgment call will have to be made if someone is homeless," said Martin.
