Police issue warning after near-fatal fentanyl overdose

RCMP are warning the public after someone nearly died from a drugoverdose early Saturday morning in Yellowknife.

Police say a person was taken to Stanton Territorial Hospital after taking what is believed to be illicit fentanyl. Symptoms of an overdose includeshallow or no breathing, blue lips and nails and an inability to wake up.

RCMP say they were told that two other people may have consumed the same substance. Police later found the two people and confirmed they were OK.

Police sayfentanylis being sold on the street as a green pill or as a powder and can go by the name "fake oxy," "greenies" or "green monsters."

The N.W.T. Department of Health issued a warning last year about the street drug, saying it's more toxic than other opioids and that even small quantities can result in overdose or death.