N.S. health officials find fentanyl in Cape Breton street drugs
Nova Scotia Health is warning people in Cape Breton about the presence of a powerful synthetic opioid found in street drugs.
Public health officials say testing in Sydney has found fentanyl in drugs that users believed was cocaine, Xanax and Dilaudid, in both pill and powder forms, between Nov. 28 and 30.
"We have had three separate reports of three different drugs being contaminated with fentanyl over the last couple of days, which means there is a particularly high risk right now," said Emily Percival-Paterson, a harm reduction consultant with public health.
Fentanyl can be extremely dangerous, especially when people don't know they're taking it, she said.
"It's particularly concerning to see non-opioid drugs coming back with fentanyl contamination, because if somebody is utilizing opioids, they may be at a lower risk of drug poisoning, because they have some level of tolerance.
"But someone who is using powdered cocaine or Xanax, they potentially have no tolerance towards opioids at all and then are much more likely to experience a drug poisoning."
Fentanyl can stop a person's breathing
The danger is that opioids are a depressant and people taking cocaine or other non-opioids are expecting the opposite effect, Percival-Paterson said.
"The big emergency of an opioid drug poisoning is that folks will stop breathing and then if you don't have breath long enough, you head into brain damage and cardiac arrest, etc.
"That's much more likely to happen if someone has no tolerance for opioids, which is particularly concerning given that these are non-opioid drugs that are coming back positive."
Percival-Paterson said anyone who wants to test drugs before using them can bring them into the Ally Centre in Sydney.
They can also pick up test strips to take home.
As of Oct. 31, the province is reporting 46 confirmed or probable opioid deaths in Nova Scotia in 2023.
Last year there were 63 opioid deaths, which was up from 40 the previous year.
Recent data show cocaine has been implicated in a growing number of overdose deaths in the province.
Testing available in Sydney
Percival-Paterson said with the arrival of the Christmas party season, people who do not often use drugs may be tempted to try them and that elevates the risk of drug poisoning.
Because of that, testing at the Ally Centre benefits the wider public and not just people who regularly visit the harm reduction centre, she said.
"Because we have information about the illicit drug supply that's in Cape Breton right now, we're able to get that information because of the site, we're able to share it and hopefully avoid something like a drug poisoning for someone who may not think that they're at risk."
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