Warning public about drug dealers after fatal overdoses a good move: expert

In a controversialmove, Saskatoon police have given out the nicknames of a suspected drug dealer and released his phone number.

It's all in an effort to promote public safety in the wake of two fatal overdoses.

One frontline workerwho helps people with addictionssays she wassurprised by the move. But anotherexpert says this kind of disclosure is the right way to go.

Saskatoon police areconsidering potential homicidecharges after two people died from drugoverdoses over the weekend.Police believe the people ingested cocaine which was possibly laced with fentanyl.

The alleged dealer was someone police identified as "LilJoe" or "Joe Bro".Saskatoon police Supt. Dave Haye saidhe has never seen this kind of public disclosure in his time with the service.

Three people have been charged with trafficking in relation to the incident. According to court documents, none of the three men accused are from Saskatchewan.Two of the men are believed to be from Calgary.

'Start to look for help'

Rand Teed has been a drug councillorand educator for 25 years and hefeels the move by the Saskatoon Police Service to name the dealers is a step in the right direction.

"Letting people know that there are very specific, significant risks is a good idea," said Teed.

Cora Gajari, with Carmichael Outreach in Regina, said she was initially surprised police would release someone's name and phone number without a conviction but said she agreed with the move.

"At first I thought it was fake news. I didn't believethat would ever happen where somebody who's not convicted would be pointed out so specifically and so publicly," Gajari said. "But then I was kind of surprised in a good way because I think that there is a lot of risk right there outon the street."

Teed said he has been in contact with people who think they've been in contact with the drug, having attempted to buyXanaxand cocaine.

"If you just use baking soda to cut cocaine, the cocaine feels so weak the people feel they've been ripped off, but if you use a drug likefentanyl, when someone takes that they're going to have a strong response to it," said Teed.

"Initially, they'll feel like they got a good deal."

But someone who is nota frequentopioiduser will not be able to handle the potency offentanyl, according to Teed.

Peter Butt, who works with the Saskatchewan Health Authority, saidit's very hard for users to know just what else is in the drugs they've bought.

"With regards tofentanyl, sometimes it's sold as a speed ball, a combination ofopioidand stimulant as a product," said Butt.

"Sometimes, though, it may be put in there surreptitiously to get the clientele, the customers, dependant on theopioidsso they come back on a more regular basis for supply."

When experiencing anopioidoverdose, breathing is restricted and the person may turn blue from the lack of oxygenand potentially die.

If this happens people, need to respond with an antidote, said Butt, specificallyNaloxone.

"Naloxonemay begin to work in five minutes but it can stop working after 20 to 30 minutes and during that period of time theopioidpoisoning may continue. When people don't call 911 and get definitive care, the overdose may come back," said Butt.

Butt saidthe best option is to try and go clean rather thantakingthe risk of buying drugs from someone you don't trust.

Politicians weigh in

Leader of the provincialNDPRyanMeilisaid he's awareof the overdoses in Saskatoon.

"This isn't a surprise. This is something that hasbeen ongoing," said Meili, who has worked as a family physician.

Making sure that people know how to be safe and avoid dealers selling potentially laced drugs is a good step but more work from the province is needed, Meili added.

Meili pointed to money from the federal government which had been delivered in 2017 to try and address mental health and addictions, buthe doesn't know where that money went. Instead, he suspects it went into fighting the province's budget deficit.

"What have they done with that money and what are their plans to get the fentanyl problem under control but also the growing crystal meth problem under control?"

Premier Scott Moe agreed that more needed to be done to address issues surrounding addictions and treatment. The premier was not able to say where the money from the federal government went but said he felt the money was going to "a broader initiative."