Weyburn Police Service wants to warn the public that cocaine laced with the potent opioid fentanyl has been found circulating in the city and has been making users ill.

They became aware of the situation from reliable sources Saturday afternoon and contacted Discover Weyburn at 6:30 p.m., hoping to warn any partygoers taking in St. Patrick's Day celebrations. They also took to their Twitter page to warn the public.

"In light of what happened in Saskatoon and other areas of the province last week, we are just asking people to be extremely cautious if they are using cocaine from a supplier they are not familiar with," shared Deputy Chief Rod Stafford. "If anybody's got any concerns, by all means, contact the Weyburn Police Service and much like Saskatoon offered if you want to turn in any suspected drug or drug that's made somebody ill you can do that at the Weyburn Police Service without fear of arrest of prosecution."

Two overdose deaths in Saskatoon last weekend caused police there to issue a Twitter appeal to drug users who may have purchased the fentanyl-laced cocaine to turn in any drugs purchased from a dealer named "Joe Bro" or "Little Joe". There have been a total of eight overdoses in Saskatoon since last weekend, three resulting in fatalities.

Stafford said if someone witnesses another person become ill after using drugs they suspect may be laced with fentanyl they should call 911, not only for the other person's safety, but for their own. Fentanyl can be dangerous to handle and police will know how to dispose of it carefully.

"Fentanyl is very, very dangerous and it can enter the body through a number of ways so if you're not sure what you're handling, by all means, call 911 to be safe and, again, there would be no risk of prosecution if it's done in the name of public safety or in protecting an individual that's become ill," explained Stafford. "The big message here is public safety. We're not out looking to prosecute at this point. Just because there have been a number of deaths recently we're just very concerned for the safety of the public."

Stafford said they are not aware of any overdoses in Weyburn due to the circulation of fentanyl-laced cocaine as of yet, however, a couple people had gotten ill as of Saturday afternoon.

Two men died of an overdose Friday in Maidstone from suspected fentanyl-laced cocaine.