Fentanyl suspected in street drug deaths in Grande Prairie

Grande Prairie RCMP are warning drug users about a street drug that may be linked to a number of deaths in the city.

A growing number of drug busts involve the powerful prescription pain relieverfentanyl, which is sold under the street name "greenies," said Cpl. Roy Kennedy.

"We are waiting obviously for the final reports of the medical examiners office but based on some of the evidence we have seen at the scene theres indication this drug may have been involved in peoples passing," he said.

During the past month, police have seized more than 10,000 pills of the "dangerous" drug,

"We're not finding it necessarilywith one segment of the population," Kennedy said. "It's being found through quite an age range of users."

The pills are often indistinguishable from other drugs, but aresignificantly more toxic, hesaid.

Overdoses can be difficult to treat as fentanylproduces symptoms that mimic those of similar drugs, he said. However,the toxic effects offentanylrequiredifferent doses of medications to treat.

The pills seized by police arenot from a pharmaceutical company, but pressed by traffickers from raw form of the drug, he said.

"As a result, you don't know what you're putting into your own body," Kennedy said.