Officials suspect overdoses linked to fentanyl stickers
While lab work remains to be done, AHS has issued an early warning
CALGARY Authorities say a small number of people suffering from suspected fentanyl overdoses in Edmonton and Calgary were found to be carrying what’s believed to be illicit “fentanyl stickers.”
Warnings posted on social media by the Alberta Paramedic Association and the head of the province’s poison and drug information service suggest that homemade fentanyl stickers have been discovered in possession of people suffering from drug overdoses.
Dr. Mark Yarema, emergency physician and medical director of Alberta Health Service’s poison and drug information service, said he’s aware of at least two possible overdose cases in Calgary involving the stickers.
Despite having the appearance of “something that a three-yearold would put into a colouring book,” the stickers could pose a significant risk, Yarema said.
“These are not produced in high-quality pharmaceutical labs with stringent quality control,” he said. “The amount of drugs and the number of drugs could vary from sticker to sticker.”
If you use these drugs, “you’re playing Russian roulette and you have really no idea what you’re getting into.”
Yarema added it’s important to note that lab tests have not yet been conducted to confirm the presence of fentanyl or any other illicit drugs in the stickers that were found.
While the vast majority of fentanyl overdoses are the result of people ingesting, snorting or injecting the drug in pill or powdered form, Yarema said it’s important to let people know when other forms of the drug could be circulating.
“Instead of waiting for confirmation and potentially being accused of delaying things or dropping the ball, we wanted to get out ahead of this one and let people know these are out there,” he said.
A Calgary paramedic’s warning about fentanyl stickers was shared last week by the Alberta Paramedic Association (APA) in a Facebook post.
The paramedic found the stickers in the pocket of a suspected opiate overdose victim, according to information provided to Postmedia.
The “colourful stickers were consistent with (the patient’s) abnormally coloured saliva,” said Marc Moebis, executive director of the APA, adding the stickers have not been proven to be the cause of the overdose.
Moebis said the post was meant as a warning to other paramedics to be on the lookout for a potential new form of the drug.
“Often times, paramedics will be the first to find a new street drug or a new method of taking a street drug,” Moebis said.
The stickers should not be confused with the legitimate, prescribed use of transdermal fentanyl patches. Fentanyl patches are routinely prescribed to patients suffering from advanced forms of cancer or other forms of severe chronic pain.
Those transdermal patches are also sometimes abused by people who smoke or consume them in order to get high.
“The faster way to get the effect would be to eat the patch and that’s what people have done in terms of abusing the proper fentanyl patches. They simply eat them and the effects are within 30 to 60 minutes, tops,” Yarema said.
Alberta saw 241 deaths from fentanyl in the first half of 2017, according to the latest data from the province released last week. That is a 54 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.
Yarema said it’s been disappointing to see the number of fatal overdoses continue to rise.
“We’re now into three years of an opioid crisis. It’s not showing any signs of going away at this point and the statistics showing the fatalities are proving that point,” he said.
Yarema added that members of the public who come across fentanyl stickers should give them to police for testing.