Jim MacDonald says he knew there was a prescription drug problem in the Annapolis Valley.

He thought it likely his 20-year-old daughter, Katanna, might “dabble” in drugs, the same way he expects a lot of young people try them.

But he says there was never any indication that drugs were a problem in her life.

Certainly, no sign that drugs would end her life.

And no indication that this father of three, grandfather of two would would one day be trying to talk through his pain, trying to save someone else’s child.

“I just feel, I’ve got a grandson that’s nine and there’s a lot of other children out there,” he said Friday, during an interview from his Kingston home.

“If you could just save one, it’s worth saying something. Somebody’s got to do something or it’s just not going to get any better. How many more are going to go?”

Katanna died just over a week ago after apparently taking an accidental overdose of methadone, a drug not prescribed for her, and commonly used to treat opiate addicts.

Kings RCMP are still investigating the case as a sudden death.

MacDonald said there’s no reason to believe his daughter was an addict. Hospital officials didn’t think so, he said. Katanna’s friends told him they rarely saw her pop a pill.

Instead, he believes his daughter, one of several young people in the Annapolis Valley whose death has been linked to accidental prescription drugs in the past few years, didn’t understand the risks.

“The kids don’t know what they’re playing with,” MacDonald said.

Groups in the Annapolis Valley have worked to raise awareness of the problem. In 2010, Kentville Police Chief Mark Mander wrote to government officials urging them to address prescription drug abuse after a number of drug-related deaths in the Annapolis Valley.

Since then, groups in other parts of the province have added their voices to the growing concern.

Kings County RCMP Const. Blair MacMurtery said Friday that the number of deaths linked to accidental prescription drug overdose in his area isn’t readily available.

But he said one death “is absolutely too many.”

For MacDonald, the reality is hard to grasp.

He was working in British Columbia when he learned his daughter had been hospitalized. He flew to Nova Scotia the next day. Even on the plane, “you keep telling yourself it’s not that bad. You don’t want to think of the worst.”

But he said it was clear at the hospital that things were bad.

“The only thing that was keeping her alive was the machine. Her kidneys had shut down, her liver had shut down, she wasn’t breathing on her own.”

The family decided to remove life support. Friends by the hundreds came to the hospital to say goodbye.

MacDonald said he has been researching methadone ever since. He’s spoken out at a local police meeting and met with Kings West MLA Leo Glavine about the problem.

He said he believes more needs to be done to get those drugs off the street.

And he is urging other parents to be aware.

“Pay close attention to what (your children) are doing. There’s a lot of parents who really don’t know what is going on.”

(kshiers@herald.ca)