A second person has been charged in connection to a string of overdoses which happened last fall in downtown Barrie.
On Oct. 2, a 22-year-old woman collapsed near Fred Grant Square and went unresponsive – just one of five similar overdoses that happened early that morning.
Investigators learned that all the victims were at the same party earlier in the night. The group took what they believed was cocaine, but police say it was actually a mix of heroin and fentanyl.
The victims were all taken to hospital and were later released.
A 20-year-old Kingston man was arrested and charged with several drug offenses, including trafficking fentanyl.
A 22-year-old Barrie man has since been charged with trafficking charges.
“The courts take the fentanyl charges extremely seriously,” says defence lawyer Angela McLeod.
She warns the punishments are getting tougher.
“We're seeing upper single digit and now double digit sentences eight, nine, 10 years. Particularly for people that are trafficking in fentanyl. Once a judge or justice determines a sentence that becomes a starting point in similar cases for other people; what we call a ladder approach.”
Addictions workers say it should be a wakeup call for people to find the help that's out there.
“Our program offers individual counselling for anybody that’s dealing with an opioid or is concerned with their opioid use. However, we can also facilitate referrals to treatment centre in terms of residential treatment ah we offer group counselling,” says Meredith Fryia, manager of Addiction Services.
Both of the accused will appear in court on Feb. 27.
