Fentanyl abuse kills. The Niagara Regional Police Service (NRPS) is joining forces with the police and health care community to bring attention to the battle of Fentanyl abuse. Fentanyl abuse is responsible for hundreds of deaths in Ontario. This video features the story of Tina from Barrie, Ontario. Sherri Dolk talks about the impact of her daughter’s overdose. with the message: Stop the Count. Face the fentanyl.
The Ontario policing community with the strong support of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) partners and families whose loved ones have died from Fentanyl-related deaths have develop an Ontario-specific, web-based source of information on the dangers associated with the use and abuse of this extremely potent painkiller.
The OACP has unveiled the new website, www.facethefentanyl.ca which is available to Ontario police services, public health units, and other community groups who want to stop Fentanyl-related deaths in Ontario.
NRPS Chief and the current president of the OACP, Jeff McGuire states Between 2010 and 2014, Fentanyl was a factor in 577 deaths in Ontario. Police services across Ontario cannot stand by while our sons and daughters, our friends, and the people we serve die from the use and abuse of this drug.
Fentanyl can be obtained legally in Ontario through prescriptions and is usually prescribed for the treatment of acute pain. It is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 40 times more than heroin.
In November 2015, the OACP released a resource document for establishing Patch 4 Patch Fentanyl Abuse Prevention programs. Subsequently, the Ontario legislature passed the Safeguarding Our Communities Act (Fentanyl Patch for Patch Return Policy), which established a provincial policy whereby individuals who are prescribed Fentanyl in transdermal patches must return all of their patches before being given new ones.
For further information on Fentanyl abuse check out:
@facethefentanyl on Twitter #FaceTheFentanyl
