Veiw Segment Transcript

A funeral director in Aldergrove, British Columbia says he's increasingly preparing funerals for people who have died of fentanyl overdoses. It's part of the reason he has started a fundraising campaign to educate high school students about the dangers of the drug.

Recently, his funeral home has been preparing three or four funerals a month for families of people who have died of fentanyl overdoses.

"The last couple years, there has been a fair amount. This past year has been the worst year without question," John Romeyn tells As it Happens host Carol Off.

"I spoke to a colleague of mine over the weekend and he prepared four funerals last week. And another colleague was seven last week. So, it's not just one funeral home. It's every funeral home."

Romeyn says he believes all of these deaths were cause by fentanyl overdoses.

This undated photo provided by the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiners Office shows fentanyl pills. (THE CANADIAN PRESS) Romeyn's connection to the crisis isn't just professional — it's personal. He wrestled with addiction issues for 27 years.

"A lot of people have this misconception that a drug addict is somebody who lives on the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver and that's their lifestyle. But, unfortunately, because we're more in the suburbs ... we're seeing more people in affluent areas who are going through exactly the same thing."

Romeyn's son has been affected by the crisis as well. At a party recently, his son's friend suffered a fentanyl overdose. The friend, who was in his 20s, died.This experience led Romeyn's son to leave his job at the funeral home.

"He actually quit the business ... It started to affect him a little bit too much ... It has been pretty tough on him," says Romeyn.

Romeyn is currently fundraising to create a video about the fentanyl crisis that he hopes to show to B.C. high school students. His funeral home is also hoping to park a hearse at local schools.

"We do want to upset people. We do want to have them see the reality of it."

"The funeral home I work at, we're not interested in this kind of business. We're more interested in the natural kind of business that we would deal with," says Romeyn.