VANCOUVER — Police say fentanyl is suspected in the overdose deaths of two people in the Vancouver area over the long weekend.
A 17-year-old boy, Jack Bodie was taken off life support and died after taking what is believed to be fake Oxycontin and losing consciousness in a Vancouver park Saturday night.
Bodie's friend Luca Bonamici says, "Being taken at 17 is just way too young. He always had a smile on his face. He had a bright future and it's been taken away before his and his parents' eyes."
Police said Bodie and a 16-year-old boy lost consciousness in an East Vancouver park when they overdosed on green, fake Oxycontin pills, known as "fake 80s," tainted with fentanyl.
A Vancouver police release says the teen is believed to have taken drugs known as "fake 80s," which are green pills with the number 80 on them.
A release from North Vancouver RCMP says they suspect the death of a 31-year-old man Friday is also linked to fentanyl.
Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more toxic than morphine and has been linked to many recent overdose deaths in B.C., including the deaths of a North Vancouver couple in July.
Police say fentanyl can be found in many forms and is often mixed with other drugs.