Drugs and overdoses are not just a big city problem. In Kindersley, a town of just under 5,000 people, recent overdoses in the area have RCMP alerting people across the province.
Fentanyl has been circulating in various forms, and police want residents around Saskatchewan to be aware.
“We do notify the public in communities across the province, including Kindersley, when our local detachment responds to multiple overdoses within a short period of time,” Staff Sgt. Kevin Peterson with the Kindersley RCMP told CTV News.
They’re notifying people now, because another fentanyl death was reported last week, which follows a three month rise in cases.
“From April and July of 2023, we had seven calls for service involving suspected fentanyl, three of those have resulted in fatalities,” Peterson says.
Kindersley isn’t alone. Moose Jaw saw three sudden deaths there in June, those were linked to suspected fentanyl use.
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RCMP say, a few grains of fentanyl can be fatal and take many forms like a colourful powder, chunks, pills, or patches.
“Unfortunately, a lot of the small communities like ours have this problem. It’s rare that we do have this, but when we do have this, we want to make the public aware of the potential of the problems with these elicit drugs,” he says.
RCMP are getting the word out so family and friends of drug users can be aware.
“One of the things we want the public to know is that this very much a medical emergency when people are overdosing or in distress, so call 911 immediately and call for an ambulance,” he says.
In Saskatoon at Prairie Harm Reduction, they are seeing fentanyl use continue to go up.
“We’re really seeing a very consistent flow of fentanyl and poison drug supply coming through the province. It’s definitely more active in urban areas and as years have gone on it’s become more of a constant across the province,” Kayla De Mong, Executive Director at Prairie Harm Reduction told CTV News.
Prairie Harm Reduction saw almost 50,000 people go through the doors last year alone.
It’s a complex issue, according to De Mong, who says lack of housing is one of the underlying factors in the drug crisis in Saskatchewan.
“It’s getting significantly worse and especially in urban areas where we’re seeing a situation like we’ve never seen before,” she says.
With the recent deaths in Kindersley, it’s becoming a growing reality in rural areas of the province also.
