A Canadian man who tried to launch a brick-and-mortar drugs store earlier this year has died of an overdose.
Jerry Martin, 51, was immediately arrested after opening The Drugs Store in Vancouver, in May.
He wanted to provide clean drugs to hooked customers, VICE News reports.
Cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and MDMA were all on the menu.
A sign at the store's entry said ID was required and buyers must be over 18.
It comes as North America struggles with an epidemic of opioid use, particularly fentanyl.
"Jerry believed that people were self-medicating their trauma and so long as they were doing that, they needed a safe supply to do it," his partner Krista Thomas told VICE News. "He had his own trauma and unfortunately, he relapsed."
His death was reportedly caused by a suspected fentanyl overdose.
He initially survived the overdose but his family decided to switch off his life support after he remained unresponsive.
Thomas said it wasn't clear if he'd meant to take fentanyl or not.
When Martin was arrested in May, local police said they supported harm reduction services.
However, "drug trafficking will continue to be the subject of enforcement", police said.
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