TORONTO

An online photo has emerged of a TTC passenger appearing to take a hit off a pipe containing what may have been the drug fentanyl.

The image, which was posted to Twitter, shows what appears to be a man with a small white tube protruding from between his lips and using his fingers to hold the other end against a lighter and a piece of material one witness described as “tinfoil.”

The person who took the photo, whom the Toronto Sun is not identifying because she is a minor, says the incident took place Monday, around 8:30 p.m., on the 512 streetcar as it made its run on St. Clair Ave. W.

“He had asked to borrow my lighter,” she told the Sun, adding the man proceeded to pull out a white tube and tinfoil. “I handed him my lighter and then he pulled that out and I’m, like, ‘what ... are you doing?’ And he’s, like, ‘smoking fentanyl.’ So then I (took) the picture and I moved because I’m ... pregnant and I didn’t want to breathe that in.”

There were around 10 other passengers on the streetcar, and she said the operator didn’t seem to notice what was taking place.

Fentanyl, a super-potent opioid painkiller available via a doctor’s prescription, has been making headlines for its widespread illicit use and connection to numerous overdoses and deaths across Canada.

According to the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, it can be injected, ingested orally — or smoked.

TTC spokesman Brad Ross said illegal activity — which includes smoking illicit drugs as well as regular cigarettes — is not tolerated on the transit body’s vehicles or property, but that enforcement is tricky.

“Obviously ... our special constables and police can’t be on every vehicle, at every station, at all times,” Ross said, adding that he hopes the man in the photo receives “some help” for his apparent addiction.

TDavidson@postmedia.com