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Dad pushes for fentanyl awareness after Saskatoon overdose

May 11, 2017 | 10:42 AM

After a deadly fentanyl overdose by an 18-year-old woman in Saskatoon over the weekend, a Saskatoon man who lost his 23-year-old son the same way is speaking out.
 
“I wasn’t surprised when I saw the woman died,” said Al Reisinger, who created a recovery house for drug addicts in his son Alex’s memory in Oct. 2016.

“If anything, I’m surprised it’s not more in the news.”
 
Police linked fentanyl to three of five overdose calls officers handled between May 5-7, one of which killed the 18-year-old woman. 

Fentanyl is an opioid drug several times more potent than morphine. It’s principal legal use is as a painkiller for cancer patients. 

“It doesn’t receive the attention it should because of the stigma around the drug,” Reisinger said, saying the drug is the number one killer in North America. 
 
“When we see a story about fentanyl addictions, it’s usually on Hastings Street in Vancouver, which is stereotypical, but now we have lawyers dying from the drug and should take it more seriously.”
 
The father said Canada and other western countries should look to Portugal as an example for how to deal with opioid addictions.