Fentanyl traffickers 'should be charged with murder,' grandmother of victim says

The grandmother of a man who died of a fentanyl overdose in Saskatchewan says traffickers of the opioid deserve to be charged with murder. 

Jean Canning, who lives in Saskatoon, is mourning her grandson Waylon, 23, who lived in the Melfort area and died of an overdose linked to fentanyl, sometimes known as counterfeit OxyContin.

"I think they should be charged with murder," Canning said Wednesday of traffickers. "Selling drugs that are killing all these people and nothing's being done."

Canning's appeal comes as RCMP in the town of Kindersley say they've been called to "several" fatal overdoses in the past month that they believe may be connected to fake OxyContin. Fentanyl pills have been linked to a number of deaths in Western Canada, including at least four earlier this year in Saskatchewan.

According to RCMP, the most recent potential fentanyl overdoses happened a week ago. A man and a woman died and another man was hospitalized. All were from Kindersley. RCMP said they are awaiting toxicology reports to confirm their suspicions that those overdoses are linked to fentanyl.

"The incidents that occurred this past week have obviously been alarming to us," Cpl. Daniel Archibald said.

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In the past, counterfeit OxyContin pills have been green in colour with specific markings on them. However, they may now be available in any colour tablet, RCMP say.

Grieving family

Jean Canning said her grandson's death was very unexpected.

"He wasn't a drug addict or anything like that," she said. "He had a good job. He liked fishing, hunting, golfing. He was very active. I just can't understand how this happened. I'm sure he wasn't planning on dying."

She also said she feels for other families who are facing similar tragedies.

"I know what what we're going through so I can't imagine what all those other families are going through," Canning said. "These are young people that have got their whole lives ahead of them. I just don't understand it."

She added that Waylon's parents are having a difficult time coping with the man's death.

"They're having a hard time," she said. "My son [Waylon's father] is really, really having a hard time accepting this."

Fake drug very dangerous

Dr. Peter Butt, a consultant in addictions for the Saskatoon Health Region and an associate professor in the department of family medicine at the University of Saskatchewan, said the illicit drug is very dangerous.

"Unlike opiates such as morphine, that comes from the poppy plant, fentanyl is entirely synthetic," he said. "It's produced in a lab and is highly concentrated: more than a hundred times more potent than morphine."

Butt said the basic ingredients have made their way to the streets via organized crime.

"What's happened over the last two or three years is that the concentrated powder has been made available through organized crime groups to consumers," he said. 

One of the methods used by the traffickers is to compress the powder into a type of pill or tablet, he said most commonly in the form of green or green-blue tablets.

"They're produced in an illicit lab so there's no quality assurance," he added, noting that users may not know how much they are taking. 

"Ultimately, they have no idea how potent it is," he said. "Frequently, these overdose deaths are amongst people that are in suburban areas or rural centres where they may not fully appreciate how dangerous it is."