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In recent years, cocaine was prevalent in the community, but in the last few months, any overdose calls involve the use of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Since the start of 2021, the Weyburn police has responded 11 times to calls to assist the Weyburn EMS on a drug overdose but as Chief Blunden noted, they don’t even hear about most overdoses. In one particularly eventful weekend in January, there were two deaths and one overdose where the person was able to recover. More recently, WPS had three overdose calls from Feb. 19-21, and one person was taken to hospital in Weyburn then Regina in critical condition.
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WEYBURN The first month of the new year didn’t leave Weyburn police members with much to celebrate; just a hard reminder of that city’s drug overdose issues.
Three men overdosed on fentanyl in 36 hours. Two died. One was revived with a naloxone shot, but he didn’t want any other help.
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Chief Jamie Blunden says those mid-month drug calls were small glimpses of a larger, glaring issue in Weyburn: Overdoses from hard drugs have a strong hold on the southeast Saskatchewan city.
WEYBURN 2020 was a deadly year for overdoses in communities across Saskatchewan, and now just 28 days into 2021, Weyburn has already seen more fatal overdoses than last year. The Saskatchewan Coroners Office believes there were 379 fatal drug overdoses in Sask. in 2020. A total of 172 are confirmed overdoses while 207 are suspected overdoses. Last year, the Weyburn had one reported fatal overdose. Less than a month into 2021, police are aware of two overdose deaths. The Chief of the Weyburn Police Department said the community is seeing increasing addictions to more dangerous drugs like opioids. “It s like putting a bullet into a revolver, spinning it and seeing whether or not it s going kill you or not,” Weyburn Police Chief Jamie Blunden said.
Tuesday saw one adult male charged with failing to appear in court as required, and another charged with failing to comply with a condition of his release order. Police also responded to a reported theft in progress at a local business resulting in three individuals being charged under the Criminal Code. Responding to a 911 call, officers attended a local business to remove an agitated individual. Police were able to calm the individual and encourage him to leave willingly without further incident. On Thursday, Weyburn Police received five traffic related complaints resulting in three motorists being charged under the Traffic Safety Act. Police also responded to a medical emergency involving an adult male who was experiencing a suspected drug overdose. The male was conscious upon arrival and examined by EMS personnel.