WATCH: Toronto Police are issuing a warning about the drug Fentanyl. It’s claimed lives across the country and its now made its way to the Greater Toronto Area. Caryn Lieberman explains from Toronto Police Headquarters.
TORONTO — Toronto police are warning the public of a potentially deadly combination of fentanyl infused narcotics that are slowing making its way into the city’s drug scene.
“We’re now seeing fentanyl combined with other drugs and knock off oxycontin pills,” said Drug Squad Unit Commander Inspector Howie Page at a press conference Monday.
“One pill can kill you.”
Fentanyl is a synthetic opiate narcotic that is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, heroin, or oxycodone.
Police say they don’t currently have an exact number of deaths related to fentanyl use in Toronto but are working with the coroner’s office and Health Canada to ascertain any links they may have to drug-related fatalities.
“Anything that we seized, of an opiate, product, now we’re working with Health Canada quantifying what the drug is,” said Page.
READ MORE: Fentanyl fact sheet: what it is and what it does
In Alberta alone there have been 145 deaths connected to fentanyl so far this year and at least 66 deaths in B.C. where fentanyl was a factor.
In some jurisdictions in Canada, the opioid is being cut into street drugs that are in pill, liquid or powder form.
Police: ‘Unfortunately’ anybody can make Fentanyl drug
The odourless and tasteless narcotic is extremely potent with as little as two milligrams of fentanyl enough to cause overdose and death. That amount is as small as two grains of salt.
In Toronto, Insp. Page said police are seeing the drug blended with heroin and many are unaware of the mix, including the drug dealers themselves.
“What we’re seeing in Toronto is people who are normally taking heroin are now unknowingly taking heroin matched with fentanyl,” said Page.
“The problem with any type of pill is most of them are made in clandestine labs. A lot of them have different substances in it, all of them dangers of their own. Often the dealers themselves at the lower end don’t know what they are selling.”
READ MORE: ‘It’s such an insidious drug’: Fentanyl warning for parents after Calgary teen’s overdose
Despite its illicit drug use, the narcotic is frequently administered in the medical field for the treatment of pain.
The drug can either be consumed by using a patch, administered via intravenous, intramuscularly, in a lozenge or spray and in a tablet.
Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli is a champion of the Patch 4 Patch intiative in North Bay, Ont., where used patches are returned to pharmacists before replacement patches can be distributed.
“Patch 4 Patch is proving to be effective in my community, and I believe it can be even more effective if it becomes province wide by removing loopholes that allow the cycle of abuse to continue,” he said.
“I’m pleased the efforts pioneered in my hometown of North Bay to combat fentanyl abuse are now gaining wider attention, and that 45 Ontario communities are now moving ahead on Patch 4 Patch solutions. I am confident all parties will recognize the urgency of this non-partisan issue and work with me to pass my Patch 4 Patch legislation in the upcoming session.”
Police say fentanyl use has spiked in popularity over the years as doctors prescribe less opiates like oxycodone due to widespread abuse.
Authorities in Toronto also say a single patch is estimated to be worth around $200 in street value.
Toronto police issued an advisory earlier this month after 20 fentanyl patches were stolen from inside a vehicle.
With files from Caryn Lieberman, Melissa Ramsey and Nick Logan
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