Funeral chain warning of fentanyl danger

LANGLEY — A funeral services chain in British Columbia is developing a program it hopes will cut the number of drug deaths related to fentanyl among children and young adults.

Alternatives Funeral and Cremation Services has created a fentanyl prevention program after a funeral home in the chain reported serving four to five families every month who had lost a loved one to an overdose in Metro Vancouver.

The owner of the chain, Tyrel Burton, says the company felt it could no longer tolerate those numbers and unlike other programs focusing on harm reduction, it decided to aim at prevention through the use of visual aids that it describes as “powerful, perhaps even controversial.”

The program includes a poster of grieving family members surrounding a coffin, under a banner reading “Will fentanyl be the reason for your next family get-together?”

A casket and hearse are also part of the 45-minute presentation aimed at parents and their children aged 12 and up.

The death toll has surged since the powerful opioid fentanyl arrived in the province.

Coroner’s service statistics between January and September of this year show there were 186 deaths involving victims aged 10 to 29.

The company’s presentation also involves personnel from local victim services, the coroner’s service and parents who have lost a child or young adult family member to addictive drugs.