Accused fentanyl dealer issues warning to potential users

A Saskatoon man charged with selling fentanyl is warning potential users to stay away from the potentially deadly drug, which he quickly became addicted to.

He's on remand now in a Saskatchewan jail, awaiting trial on trafficking charges. The accused dealer, whom we'll call Max, spoke to CBC News on thecondition his identitynot be revealed, because he fears for his safety behind bars.

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Max spoke candidly about how he became addicted, where the drug comes from and how drug dealersview fentanyl dealersand why the body count from overdoses keeps rising.

"It's a horrible drug. It's more addicting than anything. It'll ruin you. Stay away from it," he said.

Road to addiction

Max already had several brushes with police for alleged cocaine dealing when he came acrossfentanyl for the first time in 2010.

Like many people who use pills on the street, what he ended up snorting wasn't what he had expected.

"I thought they were OxyContin. That's how it started, I tried OxyContin first when they were still around,and then all of a sudden there were these green ones," he said.

"I went through a couple different episodes.I know a lot of people that have overdosed on these, but itwas mostly because they were mixing drugs. Like, people snort coke with their Oxys. They were, likemixing them and theywouldOD. Some people died."

Max said that he quickly became addicted.

Pills vs. patches

He overdosed, but soondeveloped a tolerance for the synthetic narcotic, which doctorsdescribe as 100 times more potent than morphine. He'd grind up the pills and snort thepowder.

It's this potency that made it attractive to drug dealers,especially when they realized that fentanyl alsocame in a transdermal patch.

Dealers began heating the patches and extracting the drug. They'd dilute it with another powder andpress their own pills. Suddenly there were different classes of fentanyl-laced pills on the street a purer form,and those that were cut down.

Ilost everybody that was around me that was hooked on it, includingsomebody I love, and I seen friends die.Man charged with sellingfentanyl

Max said this is the reasonthe fatal overdoses began some pills are far more potent than others.

"These young kids that are trying the ones that are cut three into one don't know the differencebetween that and the stronger ones," he said.

The man doesn't believe that the drugs are coming from China, the U.S. or British Columbia.For authorities to chase suppliers outside the province is a mistake, he said.

"I think they're just chasing a ghost that doesn't exist."

Max thinks opportunistic local dealers are buying fentanyl patches and pressing the pills in Saskatoon.

Fentanyl isprescribed to cancer patientsor people with chronic pain.

Drug roulette

Max saidanyone buying and snorting the pills should not expect any warnings or guidance fromdealers.

He agrees with the assessment of police. Buying drugs on the street is like playingroulette, and the sellers are notconcerned about the customers.

"I don't think they care. It's drugs, right? They're looking at it from the point of money, monetary gain," he said.

"You do it on your own choice, you're in that scene."

A bust, and a break

Max stopped taking the pills when he was arrested.

"I came here and it was a rough battle, but I got off of it. I'm kind of glad that I'm here," he said.

"The drug ruined everything. I lost everything that I had worked hard for. I had businesses, I lost it all to get high. And it was gross. I lost everybody that was around me that was hooked on it, including somebody I love, and I seen friends die. [When] I got arrested when I did, it was a blessing in disguise."

Max will appear in court to face his charges later this year.