Police across Ontario sound alarm about fentanyl use

Windsor police, along with other police agencies across Ontario, are again sounding the alarm about fentanyl.

Though the prescribed version is dangerous itself, police are seeing a rise in use of synthetic, or bootleg, versions of the drugs.

• Health Canada cracking down on chemicals used to make fentanyl

These synthetic versions are produced in an uncontrolled environment, like home labs. Const. Andrew Drouillard is the public information officer for the Windsor Police Service.

"The danger to it is that you don't know what you're going to get each time," he said. "The potency level could be small when the user uses it the first time, and then the second time it could be a more potent dose."

Police forces are also reporting bootleg versions of fentanyl being cut with other drugs, like heroin.