'It's taken a lot of my friends': Regina man shares his experiences with fentanyl

Regina fentanyl user shares his story WATCH: A Regina man is sharing his experiences with fentanyl in hopes to raise awareness. David Prisciak has the story.

With fentanyl seizures currently at a record high in Regina – one man is trying to raise awareness of the deadly opioid's effects.

Drugs have been in Daniel Missens’ life since he was 12 years-old – where they provided an escape from a broken home.

“So you’re going to turn to something to get yourself out of that situation – to block it,” he said.

“So when you’re using drugs you’re blocking it. Its putting you in a state of mind where you’re happy and content.”

Over his 45 years – Missens has used many drugs.

Beginning with marijuana, moving to cocaine, hydromorphine, crystal meth and most recently – fentanyl.

“I still on occasion do fentanyl so … I’m not completely out of it,” he said.

“But for now I’ve been clean for three weeks so maybe I can keep it that way.”

The synthetic opioid is 100 times stronger than morphine according to Health Canada.

“It’ll knock you out but at the same time it brings you that euphoria where you are just content,” Missens said.

“All your feelings, emotions about what you’re doing at the time – is gone.”

Messins says there’s a clear reason why overdoses are rising among Regina’s houseless population.

Many fear they’ll be robbed while they’re unconscious – so they use alone.

“What they’re doing is saying; ‘I’m going to go get high by myself – then I don’t need to worry about my bag. I don’t have to worry about giving up drugs,’ and that is why they’re dying,” Missens explained.

“It’s because they’re choosing not to get high with their partner and their friends and anybody who’s really close to them.”

It was during a recent trip to the hospital that Messins made the decision to share his experiences with the deadly opioid.

“That’s when I actually started to think about bringing awareness to this drug and it’s taken a lot my friends,” he said.

“Pretty much all of my friends, a lot of my relatives … its goes for everybody out here that I know.”

Regina police seized a record amount of fentanyl so far this year – reporting a total of 10.4 kilograms.

“Fentanyl is [an] especially potent drug. It’s resulted in a lot of fatal overdoses in the city of Regina,” Staff Sergeant Kelly Campbell with the Regina Police Service (RPS) told CTV News.

“So we’re glad to get that quantity of fentanyl off the street and we’ll continue to keep working so we can keep making those types of seizures.”

However drug enforcement is only half the battle.

“We’re trying to do that both in the enforcement and the seizures and the laying of criminal charges but also just in the managing people that are at risk because of drug use.”

Now with three weeks of sobriety under his belt – Missens hopes to move forward without the strain of using.

“My mind is set on staying straight, focused and continuing doing what I need to do to be a positive role model for my children,” he said.

“So I’m actually really content and that’s why I wanted to do this.”