Mom calls for action after infant daughter finds bag of suspected fentanyl at park playground

A Kamloops mother who says her young daughter picked up a baggie of suspected fentanyl at a local playground is calling for more support for people with addictions in order to help reduce the proliferation of drugs.

Stefanie Elliott said her 11-month-old daughter picked up a bag containing a purple powder while playing with her three-year-old sister on Sunday morning at McDonald Park.

Elliott said she knew the bag likely contained fentanyl because she is a mental health and addictions nurse. She said she and her colleagues warn clients of "purple heroin," a potent narcotic consisting of fentanyl or carfentanil.

"I realized her life was in infinite, infinite danger," Elliott told Daybreak Kamloops host Shelley Joyce. "Even trace amounts of that, especially exposed to small bodies like my children, could have been fatal."

Elliott said she normally looks the playground over before her children play, but she forgot to this time.  

She lifted her youngest daughter onto the playground equipment when she sat down and picked up something that looked like a leaf. 

Elliott asked her three-year-old to grab the object from her sister. That's when Elliott said she saw that it wasn't a leaf, but a pot leaf-patterned baggie filled with a purple powder.

Finding the baggie at a park she described as practically her backyard, where she takes her kids and dogs multiple times a day, has Elliott calling for more to be done to address B.C.'s overdose crisis.

Purple fentanyl common in Kamloops

Elliott and her kids washed their hands after handling the suspected fentanyl. She then called police and an officer took the baggie.

Kamloops RCMP confirmed officers were called about the suspected drugs and said Elliott's story illustrates why parents need to be careful when taking their kids to playgrounds.

"It serves as a good reminder to speak with your kids about the reality of hazards that could be found in any public spaces," Staff Sgt. Simon Pillay, a spokesperson for the RCMP, said in an emailed statement.

In a separate email to CBC News, Pillay said the substance could only be called "suspected" fentanyl because it has not been tested.

He said police don't plan to test the contents of the baggie because it is not likely to be part of a criminal investigation or overdose but local drug experts are confident it is fentanyl.

Pillay added purple fentanyl is the most common colour of the drug in Kamloops.

Safe supply options reduce public drug use, researcher says

Elliott wants to see an expansion of a "safe supply" of illicit drugs for people with addictions, more supervised consumption sites and better housing for homeless people with addictions.

Kora DeBeck, a research scientist with the B.C. Centre for Substance Use and an assistant professor of public policy at Simon Fraser University, said a large body of research has shown that more supervised consumption sites lead to less public disorder, such as drug paraphernalia being found.

"People who use drugs in public spaces are very willing to relocate if they have other options," DeBeck said. "Really, what we see is that so many people don't have options."

Safe supply options lead to a less toxic drug supply, DeBeck said, and when people who use drugs have better housing, they are also less likely to use in public places.

City says park users must be vigilant

Elliott also wants to see the City of Kamloops step up inspections of playgrounds.

"I shouldn't put my 11-month-old on a playground for 30 seconds and risk her life. It shouldn't happen," Elliott said.

Byron McCorkell, director of community and protective services with the City of Kamloops, said the situation was unfortunate and he's never heard of a bag of fentanyl being found at a playground before.

He said city staff check playground equipment for safety at least once a week and public washrooms more regularly, but he doesn't know of many municipalities that check playground equipment for drug paraphernalia on a daily basis.

Users of city facilities need to be vigilant and aware of their surroundings, he added. 

"We never want to see that happen, but it happened," McCorkell said. "The city can only do so much."