I have some serious concerns about the alarming number of deaths related to fentanyl-related opioid overdoses.
A recent report indicated that almost 1,000 B.C. residents died from opioid overdoses in 2016. Totally unacceptable.
From what I understand, fentanyl is a relatively cheap form of synthetic heroin which can be purchased much more cheaply then heroin or cocaine. Some dealers are adding fentanyl into lower grade heroin to make it go further and hence make more money.
Users do not know for sure what quality of heroin they are using and are playing Russian Roulette with their lives.
It may be unrealistic to have dealers add ingredient labels to their drugs but if a store sold adulterated food and you died from it, the store would have some criminal responsibility.
The state of New Hampshire is experiencing a similar crisis of fentanyl-related deaths. As part of the solution, they are charging some dealers with murder where they knowingly knew their product would result in death.
The solution to this crisis will ultimately be found in a multi-faceted approach but it has got to start with the source of where this stuff is coming from.
Tighter enforcement will hopefully lead to drug dealers backing off on contaminated products and perhaps agreeing on some consistency in safety standards.
The current opioid overdose crisis resembles a similar situation back in the days of U.S. prohibition, when some people died from drinking moonshine laced with methanol sold by unscrupulous opportunists.
On the other side,some moonshiners had standards and would never consider knowingly adulterating their moonshine for a few extra bucks. Maybe it’s unrealistic, but perhaps if some dealers voluntarily raised their quality standards to show consideration for their customers it would also help.
Ian Mackenzie,
Mission
