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Timmins Police Services Board member Michael Doody warns of Fentanyl crisis in Timmins

Abuse of Fentanyl, a powerful prescription painkiller and a new synthetic variant, are causing across Canada and here in Timmins Michael Doody, Timmins councillor and TPS board member said yesterday at the first board meeting of 2017 “We have seen right

Abuse of Fentanyl, a powerful prescription painkiller and a new synthetic variant, is rising across Canada and here in Timmins, Michael Doody, Timmins councillor and Timmins Police Service board member, said yesterday at the first board meeting of 2017.

“We have seen right across Ontario and Canada the Fentanyl crisis, where in some areas it has become almost an epidemic,” Doody told the board. “I did not realize until just a few days ago, that Fentanyl is 40 times stronger than cocaine,”

Timmins Police Chief John Gauthier agreed with Dowdy’s assessment of the situation regarding Fentanyl in Timmins

“From a police perspective we know Fentanyl is on the streets of Timmins,” Gauthier acknowledged. “There have been some deaths attributed to the overdose and misuse of Fentanyl.”

Board member Doody asked that though Timmins police has done a tremendous job so far, more action needs to be taken to prevent overdose deaths and to stem the tide of increasing use of Fentanyl.

“We hear in Vancouver, that police officers are actually carrying kits themselves, to be able to - if they came across a situation where some is overdosing on Fentanyl - they have the tools to help them,” Doody added.

“Timmins is like everywhere else in Canada. We need to keep our guard up and do everything that we can to stem the tide,” said Doody. “I am just saying that we get the message out to the boards of education, those people - even the parents  - who deal with young people that we are doing everything we can to stem the tide,” Doody said.

“I think it is something we all have a responsibility for whether we are the news media, the police,” declared Doody. “I know people in social services and mental health are faced with these 24 hours a day."

Chief Gauthier said when used properly, Fentanyl is beneficial to alleviate pain in people who are suffering from the ravages of disease.

“Fentanyl is a powerful pain killer that is intended for the use by people afflicted by such diseases as cancer,” explained Gauthier. “It just goes to show that if you misuse a prescription medication bad things are going to happen.”

“From a drug enforcement perspective, we know it is here in Timmins,” Gauthier said. “We have put out some media releases about the problem.”

The abuse of pharmaceutically produced Fentanyl has been on the Timmins Police radar for some time, as well.

In the fall of 2016, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health voted to open an inquiry and conduct an emergency study on the opioid crisis in Canada.

Timmins police communications officer Mark Depatie in August, 2016, indicated in a media release, that at least two fentanyl-related deaths in Timmins occurred in 2016 alone and at least 14 more in the three years prior.

According to Depatie, in 2015, 143 fentanyl patches were seized in the area by Timmins police.

Depatie also said that synthetic Fentanyl had not been found in Timmins, but police will be vigilant because it will more than likely find its way into the community.

Also, in August 2016, the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) issued a warning of an impending synthetic Fentanyl crisis in Ontario as sharp spikes in Fentanyl deaths were occurring in the U.S. and British Columbian.

In Ohio for example, 1,155 deaths attributed to synthetic Fentanyl were recorded in 2015.

While B.C.'s chief medical officer declared a state of emergency in 2016 following an increase in drug overdose deaths, many of which were linked to Fentanyl, a dangerous opioid.

In June, 2016 a joint Nishnawbe Aski Nation – Ontario Provincial Police action know as Operation Coast led to the arrests of about 50 individuals, including some from the Timmins area for trafficking in Fentanyl and other opioids.

In April 2015 a community task force was established in the Timmins area in honour of Scott McKinnon, who died of a Fentanyl overdose on Boxing Day, 2014. The task force consists of local police departments, the Porcupine Health Unit, Canadian Mental Health Association, local women's shelters, detox centres and probation and parole departments.

The community task force’s mandate is to raise awareness that non-prescription use of Fentanyl can lead to sudden death. 

 


Frank Giorno

About the Author: Frank Giorno

Frank Giorno worked as a city hall reporter for the Brandon Sun; freelanced for the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. He is the past editor of www.mininglifeonline.com and the newsletter of the Association of Italian Canadian Writers.
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