Public health warns of Blue Heroin in Hamilton

There’s a warning heading into the weekend from Hamilton Public Health Services.

The city division has issued an alert after receiving multiple reports of overdoses attributed to “Blue Heroin,” which health officials say is a “highly toxic fentanyl-laced heroin” circulating in the community.

The alert is being called an important reminder that street drugs continue to be cut with substances such as fentanyl, which can cause an overdose in even small amounts.

So far this year, Hamilton paramedics have responded to over 200 suspected opioid overdoses.

Public health, meanwhile, has distributed more than 1,200 naloxone kits, reviving 313 lives.

Naloxone is a medication that reverses the effects of opioid overdose.