According to a report in the Globe and Mail Monday, the synthetic opiod Fentanyl is supected in three overdoses at the Drug War Survivors TeePee protest camp (MCC Dignity Village) as well as one death reported earlier.
On July 31, Calvin Pete, the Shaman of the Abbotsford Drug War Survivors (DWS) TeePee on Gladys Avenue, stepped in and rescued a man in the middle of an overdose at approximately 10 am this morning. Authorities were called and the man was taken away to hospital by ambulance.
Pete is reported to have used a Narcan kit to save the man’s life. Every Narcan rescue kit comes with two doses of the drug.
On Friday, a 38-year-old man was transported to hospital after being found in medical distress inside his home in the 2100 block of Peardonville Road. A bag containing a white powdery substance was located in close proximity to the man. An analysis of the substance has been completed and it has been determined to be fentanyl.
According to the Globe and Mail:
[excerpt] “We do think that this is something that someone manufactured, much like people will manufacture ecstasy or MDMA,” said Constable Ian MacDonald of the Abbotsford Police Department. “It probably was made by some home chemist as opposed to being ripped off from a pharmacy.”Fentanyl-related deaths are on the rise in the province, according to statistics the B.C. Coroners Service released in June. The drug played a role in at least 13 drug-toxicity deaths in the first four months of this year. The Fraser region had 12 fentanyl-related deaths in 2013; it had only six in 2012.
The B.C. Coroners service says the dangers are highest in the area covered by the Fraser Health Authority, including Surrey, Langley, Maple Ridge and Coquitlam.
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