As Nova Scotia prepares to battle the rising threat of fentanyl, the province’s chief medical officer has confirmed illicit drugs seized last week are likely to contain carfentanil — a synthetic drug health officials and police across the country say is 100 times more potent than fentanyl.
It’s the first known case of carfentanil in the province.
Could be in any street drug
Dr. Robert Strang said Friday it still has to be confirmed it is the opioid, but he said the presence of the drug emphasizes the need for ongoing work on the province’s response plan to opioids and to make people aware of the potency of the substance.
“It’s not just opioids, any pill or powdered street drug has the potential to be contaminated with a highly potent opioid which can cause overdose and potentially a fatality,” Strang said during a news conference.
READ MORE: Nova Scotia prepares to battle rising threat of fentanyl
Though the type of illicit drug the carfentanil was found in was not named, Don Spicer with the Department of Justice added carfentanil could be found in any substance.
“We don’t want people to think that ‘I’m safe if I take this but I’m not safe if I take this one,'” Spicer said.
Normally used for ‘large animals,’ not approved for humans
The synthetic opioid has been surfacing across the country and the world over the past several decades since it was first synthesized in the 1970s, but has seen increased awareness and seizures as Canada makes its way through the fentanyl crisis.
Strang explained that unlike fentanyl, which has been licenced for use in the medical community, carfentanil is used as an anesthetic for large animals.
He said the drug is highly concentrated and even a small amount can rapidly slow breathing and kill a person minutes after ingesting the substance.
WATCH: A Calgary man is charged with importing what amounts to 50 million doses of carfentanil, a drug 100 times more potent than fentanyl, from China. Global’s Gary Bobrovitz has the details.
The location of where the drug was found was also not provided by Strang, who instead stressed that it “could be anywhere” and in any form of street drug.
Free naloxone in the works
Asked how prepared the province is to responding to carfentanil, Strang said the response is based on opioid overdose deaths and illicit opioids.
“We are working and have been working for a number of months to put immediate steps in place,” he said.
This includes investments to increase access to naloxone, which can block the effects opioids can have on the body, and money towards community-based harm reduction organizations, working to expand access to treatment and changing prescription patterns around opioids. Part of an investment made earlier this year included making naloxone available at no cost at pharmacies, which is still being finalized.
READ MORE: What is carfentanil? Deadly street drug is causing mass overdoses in the US
“We have the immediate things we have to have in place immediately to essentially keep people alive we have been putting them in place and will continue to do so,” Strang said.
21 confirmed opioid deaths in 2017
Last year, 53 people died from opioid overdoses, four of which involved illicit fentanyl. As of May 31, the Department of Health and Wellness said in an email there were 21 confirmed and two “probably opioid toxicity deaths.”
The longer-term investments to help get people out of opioid use and minimize prescribing is also being worked on, he said.
READ MORE: N.S. ramps up opioid crisis support with $1.1M in funding
Strang is encouraging people not to use street drugs. But if they do, he says, they need to do it safely. This means not using street drugs alone, keep naloxone on hand and if concerned about an overdose, call 911.
—With files from Alexa MacLean, Global News
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