A 17-year-old Burnaby boy is dead after he and a friend took party drugs police believe were laced with fentanyl.
Jack Bodie was found unconscious with another teen in Shelley Park in Vancouver, near East Broadway and Woodland Drive, on Saturday, Aug. 1, according to a media release from Vancouver police.
Bodie and the other teen, 16, were taken to Children’s Hospital, but Bodie never regained consciousness. He remained in grave condition until Monday, when Vancouver police announced he was taken off life support and had died.
Bodie’s sister Grace and his father Mark spoke with CBC this week about his death. Mark told CBC that he hopes his son’s death will bring attention to the dangers of fentanyl and recreational drug use. Grace echoed her father’s message, adding that most teens often consider themselves invincible and take unnecessary risks.
According to the Vancouver police, the two boys ingested fake Oxycontin also known as fake ’80s. The pills were green with the number 80 on them, and police believe they contained Fentanyl, which is a powerful pain medication that can be 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the release.
Bodie’s overdose comes only days after New Westminster police responded to three separate drug overdoses in a week, one of which was fatal.
While investigators in New Westminster haven’t confirmed whether fentanyl caused the overdoses, police are urging people to consider the dangers taking any kind of drugs.
“Drug use is something we see on a daily basis, and it is not something we would ever consider to be a safe practice,” acting Sgt. Chad Johnston told the NOW’s sister paper the Record. “We’re asking those individuals who make the choice to consume any type of drug to please consider the potential deadly result prior to choosing this path.”
Recently, in North Vanocuver three people have died from overdoses investigators believe were caused by fentanyl.
On July 31, a 31-year-old North Vancouver man was found in distress by family members. Police were called, but the victim could not be revived. He died at the scene.
Eleven days earlier, a North Vancouver couple was found dead in their home after inhaling illegal narcotics believe to be laced with fentanyl.
