A Kamloops mother says her family was seconds away from tragedy after her 11-month-old baby almost ingested a bag of fentanyl at McDonald Park on the North Shore yesterday morning.
“My three year old, who was also playing, was able to get it from her before she put it in her mouth,” Stefanie Elliott said on facebook. ”
I hate to think what could have happened. You hear of police overdosing after only handling these packets due to trace amounts of fentanyl and both of my children held this.”
Kamloops RCMP say they are now investigating after Elliott reached out to them.
“Kamloops, like many other communities in Canada, is still in the grips of an opioid crisis. Unfortunately this means issues like found needles and drugs are something that all parents must be mindful of while in public settings,” said RCMP Staff Sgt. Simon Pillay, in a statement. “Thankfully in the case at hand an attentive parent caught her child with these found drugs before any harm could be done.”
“It serves as a good reminder to speak with your kids about the reality of hazards that could be found in any public spaces.”
Eliiot went on to say she is devastated by the incident, noting she usually checks out the equipment before letting her children play, but didn’t on Sunday.
“Parks employees were present at the time and their response was “well I don’t let my grandchildren play here,'” she added on facebook. “The reality is that plenty of families’ play here from all over Kamloops and that could have been your kid that picked that up.”
“Who’s responsibility is it to ensure that city play equipment stays safe?”
Pillay notes that investigators have been finding fentanyl in Kamloops since 2014, which he notes has become the drug of choice for both traffickers and users in Kamloops because of its potency.
“Drug traffickers acquire fentanyl fairly cheap and mix it with a buffing agent such as caffeine to be sold on the street,” noted Cst. Gary Gray, with the Kamloops RCMP Targeted Enforcement Unit.
“Some drug traffickers add colouring to their product to make it a signature product. The most common colour that Kamloops RCMP have been seeing is purple fentanyl.”
Pillay says the RCMP are asking people with any information to contact them at 250-828-3000.
