British Columbia, Canada

Jerry Martin, a 51-year-old Canadian, was detained in British Columbia for starting a mobile shop to sell cocaine, heroin, and other dangerous substances. In court, he has stated he intends to contest his arrest on the grounds that drug supplies cause harm. The arrest took place on Thursday, a day after Martin started his store.

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Police in Vancouver claimed to have detained a guy for "drug trafficking in connection with an illicit drug dispensary". However, no official charges have yet been filed against him. 

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On Wednesday, he started a portable shop that was parked on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, a place with a high prevalence of drug use and a lot of drug overdose prevention programmes.

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Health Canada decriminalised the possession of small amounts of hard drugs in the province of British Columbia (BC) early this year as part of a three-year trial experiment. Martin, whose brother died from an overdose, said he had intended to establish his store.

The public health measure was proposed in response to an increase in the number of fentanyl-laced drug overdose deaths in western Canada. More than 2,720 individuals in British Columbia died from overdoses in 2022. It is seven people on average every day.

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In an effort to stop more fatalities, Martin told local media sources that he intended to distribute batches of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and crack in little doses, up to 2.5 grammes. He said that fentanyl content had been checked during testing.

In a statement, Constable Tania Visintin said Vancouver police "support measures aimed at improving public safety for people who use drugs, including harm reduction services and decriminalisation."

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Numerous people had reportedly queued up outside Martin's mobile store on Wednesday afternoon to purchase drugs, according to the CBC. Although Martin's name was not mentioned in the police news release announcing the arrest, it received extensive coverage in Canadian media.

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