Fentanyl policy gets support of local police board

A two-year old policy on Fentanyl patches is getting lots of attention, and now the support of the Timmins Police Services Board.

The board passed their support of the program—one that originated in North Bay in late 2013—and has moved on to getting the support from city council in the future in order to having the program implemented in Timmins.

This, after the motion was passed at a regional meeting, that is represented by numerous towns in Northern Ontario.

Mayor Steve Black says the program would see strict protocol for pharmacists and physicians that forces patients to return their used patches before being allowed to attain a new prescription.

The original policy calls on about 10 patches to be dispensed at once, but the pharmacist can use discretion.

It’s become a big issue in the Timmins area, as police seized 459 patches in 2014, up from just 50 the year before and the drug has resulted in a number of deaths over the last few years.

Fentanyl is supposed to leak out into the body over a 72 hour period, but abusers smoke the drug, taking the whole dosage in a matter of seconds. Abusers are also said to be using it in pill form, pure powder and powder mixed with other drugs.

It’s also said the drug is often added to other illegal drugs without people knowing.

The drug is said to be 50-100 times more potent than heroine, oxycodone and heroin.