New Brunswick First Nations set to banish drug dealers following overdose death
FREDERICTON — There is a growing movement on New Brunswick’s First Nations to banish drug dealers, as mourners said farewell this week to a woman who died of a drug overdose.
Leo Bartibogue, an addictions counsellor, says there are 30 to 40 drug dealers in his community of Esgenoopetitj, in northeastern New Brunswick, and it’s hard for people to quit when there’s an ample supply of drugs at every turn.
Bartibogue attended the 35-year-old woman’s funeral on Monday and says it’s suspected she may have taken fentanyl — a powerful synthetic opioid drug that has killed hundreds in western Canada but is relatively new to the East Coast.
“We have so many routes that come in through our community that people seem to prey on, bringing these drugs all the time into our community, so we don’t know what we’re getting,” Bartibogue said.