Sam Amico
A Canadian businessman apparently died by testing his product.
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Jerry Martin, 51, once set up a mobile store where he sold tested heroin, cocaine and other drugs. He died in Vancouver over the weekend from what was believed to be a fentanyl overdose.
“Right now it’s still pretty surreal,” Krista Thomas, Martin’s partner, told CBC News. “I haven’t had time to process what has actually happened.”
Martin was arrested shortly after opening his store in May. His mission, he claimed, was to give users a safer alternative to street drugs.
Thomas said police called her three days before Martin’s death to make her aware he had been unresponsive in a vehicle and was being taken to the hospital. At the time, Thomas was told that Martin still had a heartbeat, she said.
CT scans showed he had suffered significant brain damage, though. He quickly fell into a coma. The cause was said to be a drug overdose.
Thomas and Martin’s mother made the decision to pull him off life support.
“He would have really just had very primitive functions, maybe swallowing, breathing, coughing. It became very apparent that the quality of life that Jerry would have wanted wasn’t there anymore,” Thomas said.
British Columbia Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Jennifer Whiteside sent condolences to Martin’s loved ones in a statement to CBC.
“Every life lost to the toxic drug supply is a tremendous tragedy — impacting family, friends and community,” the statement said, adding “this unrelenting toxic drug crisis demands that we use all of the tools in our toolbox to save lives and give people a chance to connect to the care they need.”
