The father of a 22-year-old Pincourt man who died after ingesting a man-made opioid cocktail last year wants Canadian authorities to do more to intercept opioids ordered online.
As soon as Giuseppe Vietri discovered that his son Nicholas had been ordering drugs online and having them delivered to his home, he intercepted them — but Nicholas then rented a post office box and got them there.
Nicholas was found dead by his father in his room on Feb. 19, 2017. He had ingested a drug from the U-47700 family — known on the street as Pink, or Pinky.
A coroner's report suggested the CEGEP student was a loner who spent most of his time in front of a computer screen. In the year before he died, he had been taken antidepressants to combat anxiety.
He'd also been experimenting with various drugs to combat his depression.
The elder Vietri says federal authorities need to do more to make it more difficult for Canadians to access potentially fatal drugs online.
U-47700 overdoses are being blamed for as many as 50 deaths in the U.S., prompting warnings from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
China is said to be a major source for the drug's production.
Since Nicholas' death, Canada has taken steps to reclassify U-47700 as a banned substance, and Canada Post suggests it's doing everything it can to keep the substance from the mail system.