Overdose-related calls are on the rise in the Saint John, N.B., area, prompting police to warn about dangerous and potentially deadly drugs circulating across the province.
For one New Brunswick mother, that reminder hits close to home.
Tanya Laybolt says her son, who is in his early 30s, has been battling addiction for more than a decade. Recently, she says she’s noticed alarming changes — including an eating disorder — since his relapse in October 2024.
“I believe whatever was laced in that drug that he took the last time altered his mind,” she said.
“It’s killing people. It’s tearing families apart. It’s killing people’s mind. My son, he is so smart. It’s hard for him to put a full sentence together now.”
The executive director of Avenue B Harm Reduction, a non-profit organization that serves Saint John’s marginalized communities, says mixed or spiked drugs can have varying half-lives, which leads …