EDMONTON – Edmonton police are starting a campaign in an effort to stop overdoses and deaths from a dangerous drug.
“I would say fentanyl is extreme,” Const. Cherie Jerebic said. “It is killing people. There are no controls in it.”
Jerebic is an Edmonton Police Services school resource officer. She was one of many hosting a presentation at Austin O’Brien High School Thursday morning about the dangers of fentanyl.
“It’s terrifying,” Grade 12 student Tania Strilets said.
“Out of all the drugs that I’ve heard about, this is definitely one of the ones that are like, ‘holy crap, this isn’t something that’s normal.'”
READ MORE: Drug ‘dementors’ stalk fentanyl addicts in Alberta amid western crisis
It’s the first of 21 presentations police will hold at Edmonton high schools over the next few months, where they will talk to a total of about 29,000 students.
“We really need to get the message out about fentanyl to high school because the 17 to 25-year-olds are some of the hardest hit,” Jerebic said. “We know the message will not stop there, these students will continue the conversation at home with their friends, parents and family.”
During Thursday’s presentation, police told students taking drugs is incredibly risky and the outcome could be deadly.
“Each pill is different than the other,” Grade 12 student Bhanwar Gill said. “The amount of fentanyl present is different than the other… Sometimes one could die, the other survives.”
Officers also encouraged teens to not hesitate in the case of an overdose: call 911 immediately.
“We want that to happen so we can save lives,” Jerebic said. “There’s no repercussion for it. We will help everyone who calls.”
Fentanyl killed 272 people in Alberta in 2015, according to Alberta Health Services, which was three times the number in 2014.
In 2012, the drug was linked directly to six deaths.
READ MORE: Fentanyl 101 – The facts and dangers
Fentanyl is about 100 times more toxic than morphine, heroin, or oxycodone.
It’s a synthetic opiate narcotic primarily prescribed to those with chronic pain. It’s known on the street as green beans, green jellies or street Oxy, and can often show up in other drugs.
Fentanyl is now as easy to buy as marijuana, police said. It’s being manufactured in home labs where quality control is nonexistent.
AHS has also launched a campaign titled ‘It’s never going to be you… until it is’ in hopes of raising awareness of the dangers of fentanyl.
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