Former Major League Baseball player Jose Canseco hit the baseball diamond Saturday to raise awareness about opiate addiction.
The Strike Out Against Opiate Addiction fundraiser took place at Parkside Elementary School in Aldergrove where Canseco joined event organizer Andy Bhatti’s team called Straight Outta Hastings.
When asked what brought the former American League MVP to Aldergrove, Canseco had a quick reply.
“To embarrass myself playing shortstop in softball,” he joked. “No, to bring awareness here to Andy’s event. It’s a great event... We made about 45 errors in six innings and we lost but it was a lot of fun.”
Bhatti is a drug and alcohol interventionist and former heroin addict and believes events like his can help at a crucial time in B.C. at the height of the fentanyl epidemic.
“If there was more resources, more detox facilities, more awareness on the dangers of fentanyl and opiate addiction and more support services, more addicts would be willing to get onto methadone and suboxone,” Bhatti said.
The total number of fatal illicit drug overdoses in B.C. is up 75 per cent from last year. The spike was largely attributed to an increase in fentanyl use, which was a factor in more than half of the deaths so far this year, according to a BC Coroners Service report released Thursday.
Bhatti, who was the victim of sexual abuse as a child and a heroin addict for 15 years, said buying fentanyl is an easy choice for many addicts.
“[If] the heroin dealer says I’m going to give you the fentanyl for $60 a gram instead of heroin for $100 [per gram] I’m going to buy the fentanyl. One hundred per cent. Every heroin addict will.”
Bhatti said he knows of four people who have died in the last week from opiate overdoses including two from fentanyl.
“It’s sad because if there was more resources and more support services to get clean maybe not so many addicts would die,” Bhatti said. “People don’t realize addiction is just one part of the cause of the addict.”
Proceeds from the event will go to the non-profit organization Survivors Support Survivors that supports child sexual abuse victims.
With files from CTV Vancouver’s Jon Woodward
