Fentanyl.
I’m fairly certain we’re all aware that it is in the province, in our community and indeed, a problem for our entire country.
It’s a subject I think I’ve written about in my columns a few times now and while I’ve done my best to warn our readers of its perils, I suppose not everyone cares.
Fair enough.
Last week I attended a meeting where addictions counsellor Darin Flemmer gave a presentation on fentanyl and other street drugs and I left that meeting both awed and troubled.
With roughly 920 deaths in Alberta alone, 158 in the last year, Flemmer said 80 per cent of them could be attributed to the substance.
Whether it is through speedballing (mixing substances) or simply a bad pill, the numbers are staggering.
It is mind-blowing that so many people have decided that a bit of euphoria is worth the near-certainty that they’ll die.
Sure, naloxone may save your life if you overdose but chances are you’ll have to take more than one shot and even then, unless someone else is there to help you, you may not survive anyway.
I think, even if you’re addicted to other opiates, making the jump from methadone to fentanyl, or even more stupidly, to carfentanil, is tragic no matter the potency of the high.
The fact that it is so easy to get is worrisome, considering you can order it and have it delivered to your doorstep via Federal Express.
I’ve done a bit of research and figure that most of this stuff is being made in China and sent here.
Regardless of the fact that China is one of Canada’s larger trading partners, I believe the federal and provincial governments ought to step in and do something about this.
Maybe they need to freeze assets of Chinese-owned corporations or suspend trade, though I daresay there would be an awful lot of economic hurt for Canada if we did so.
Unfortunately, I doubt very much that anything will ever happen and we’ll all be forced to watch, numbly, as fentanyl-related fatalities continue to rise because let’s face it, China is a trading partner and politicians like trade.
They never want to upset the apple cart, no matter what atrocities the people they are dealing with are responsible for.
That being said, there’s power in numbers.
I would suggest every single one of us writes letters, makes phone calls, pressuring our representatives to bring the issue to the people who could make a difference.
Safe-injection sites are one thing.
Being silent while one of our biggest trading partners turns a blind eye to the poison being shipped to our shores is quite another.
