PENTICTON – Penticton RCMP say there has been a sudden increase in the number of calls for overdoses in the city.

Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth says police responded to three overdoses in one night on Saturday, Nov. 19.

“It’s a regular occurrence,” Wrigglesworth says. “It’s huge. I haven’t dealt with this in my career before, to see so many overdoses. We’re seeing in a week or month what we’re normally seeing in a year. The fact that it’s daily, it’s a huge problem.”

At least one overdose has resulted in a death, he says, adding the problem has escalated in the past three weeks.

“I can’t say for sure, I think we’ve had 13 overdoses and one death in the last two weeks, off the top of my head,” he says.

Wrigglesworth says he hasn’t seen any reports to indicate if the deaths are the result of fentanyl-laced drugs.

“Police are doing what they can, the health authority is doing what it can, but there are many addicts out there.”

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