OVERDOSE DEATH

Fentanyl suspected

Saskatoon police believe a fentanyl overdose caused the death of one person over the weekend.

A police news release said officers responded to two other overdoses they believe involved fentanyl between May 5 and 7, but those cases were not fatal.

Police would not release any additional information about the death, on the grounds that overdoses are “medical calls.”

For police, it’s a public safety issue, police spokeswoman Kelsie Fraser wrote in an email to the StarPhoenix on Tuesday.

Fentanyl is a “try and die drug,” said Marie Agioritis, a co-founder of Moms Stop the Harm, a national network of people who have lost loved ones to drug use.

“You don’t just turn into a drug addict before it decides to take your life. It’s a try and die drug, and that message has to get across,” Agioritis said. “(For) the criminal element right now, it’s a multi-billion-dollar industry. Somebody is buying Lexuses and BMWs off of the back of our kids and they’re not going to change their lifestyle because a few kids are dying. It’s only the kids who are trying that have to stop.”

Through her work in the community, she is aware of the victim’s identity and age, but can only say the person “was not a real known user,” Agioritis said.

“It’s just absolutely tragic.” Doctors and pharmacists across the country are making greater efforts to minimize the effects of overdoses among prescribed users, but recreational use is rising, Agioritis said.

“There has to be some pretty drastic changes that’s going to take some long-term efforts and political convincing to start to do the right things.”

One legislative step toward reducing the number of overdose deaths became law last week.

Bill C-224, also known as the Good Samaritan Law, exempts a person from drug possession or some other charges related to violating court-ordered conditions if they seek emergency help for another person who has overdosed.

This means the main concern of the first responders dealing with an overdose case will only be the person who has overdosed, Agioritis said.

“And that significance will allow for the fear to be removed so they can save a friend’s life. When you’ve only got a 20-minute period to get the 911 responder there from the time you discovered the overdose, you’re really dealing with minutes and seconds to save someone’s life.”

She is confident that once information about this law gets out to the public, it will save lives, she said.

“And it would have saved my son’s life, potentially, too. Because he was left,” she added.

Her son, Kelly Best, died of an accidental fentanyl overdose in 2015 — one of 21 people who died that way in Saskatchewan that year.

Last year, five people in the province died of accidental fentanyl overdose.

Police warn that any drug not prescribed by a doctor or dispensed by a pharmacist carries a risk of injury or death.