Authorities warn public of fentanyl

Two men taken to Powell River General Hospital Sunday, August 16 may have overdosed on fentanyl, said RCMP media liaison officer Sergeant Kevin Day.

Fentanyl is a potent painkiller responsible for a sharp increase of drug-related deaths in the province. It is between 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine and users are often unaware they have consumed the drug that is often mixed with other illicit substances.

While there has not been any confirmed overdose deaths in Powell River directly attributable to the painkiller, said Day, there may be evidence the drug is circulating locally.

He said the men had been taking heroin, but it’s possible it was laced with fentanyl.

“We don’t have any reported incidents with fentanyl, but that does not mean it won’t make its way here, or is not in our community,” added Day. “From our standpoint there haven’t been any direct police incidents with fentanyl at this point, but people need to use extreme caution. It is a reality in our province and we are not unlike any other community in this province.”

In the Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) region, the majority of people dying from using fentanyl are not using injection drugs, said Dr. Mark Lysyshyn, VCH medical health officer, in a media release. “They are mostly recreational drug users who are snorting or smoking drugs,” he said.

Four people from the Lower Mainland died from fentanyl overdoses during July and now Vancouver Island has also recorded a spike in overdoses. Regional coroner Matt Brown told reporters that several recent deaths on Vancouver Island are related to the drug. One death in Campbell River has been confirmed, as well as a single case in Courtenay, seven in Nanaimo and two cases in Victoria.

According to Coroners Service of British Columbia, over the past three years the percentage of drug overdose deaths in which fentanyl is detected has risen to more than 25 per cent. Over 350 people died province-wide in 2014 due to illicit drug taking. In the majority of those cases, the cause of death was a mixed drug overdose with fentanyl being just one of the components. In some cases users have ingested fentanyl believing they had been sold other illicit drugs, such as oxycodone, cocaine, methamphetamine or ecstasy.

Given the spike in overdose deaths, police and health authorities believe there is an increased amount of fentanyl in circulation and are warning drug users, even recreational users, of the increased danger.

For more information about fentanyl overdose, readers can visit Vancouver Coastal Health authority’s webpage.