Ontario could be next in bootleg fentanyl crisis

WATERLOO REGION — Overdoses of fentanyl seen in British Columbia and Alberta could soon be in Ontario and Waterloo Region, warns a local group that is urgently requesting the provincial government to face this public health crisis.

The Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council issued an advisory Monday on what it is calling bootleg fentanyl and how record-setting overdose deaths in western Canada and the Northern U.S. states could be coming our way.

The advisory is also supported by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, the Municipal Drug Strategy Coordinators Network of Ontario and the Ontario Overdose Prevention and Naloxone Access Working Group.

The local crime prevention council says bootleg fentanyl is a public health emergency in British Columbia and Alberta. Overdose deaths have increased by 74 per cent this year in comparison to January to July of last year.

Bootleg fentanyl is often created in a clandestine lab and could be a mixture of heroin, cocaine and crystal meth laced with fentanyl, say Waterloo Regional Police.

It can be in a pill form or powder.

Fentanyl is a powerful prescription drug often used for patients with severe pain or to manage pain after surgery.

Staff Sgt. Sloden Lackovic, head of drugs for Waterloo Regional Police, said there have been cases of bootleg fentanyl in the region but not the crisis western Canada is facing.

Last year, there were less than 10 drug seizures involving some form of fentanyl in the region, while this year the numbers jumped to 34 since January.

In the last year, those using drugs thought they were buying heroin or crack cocaine and

instead many times the drugs were laced with fentanyl, he said.

And now users are seeking out fentanyl, said Lackovic, who had two drug officers attend a conference on fentanyl in British Columbia in June to learn more about the illicit drug.

And that’s worrisome say service providers who are trying to reduce the number of overdoses and raising awareness about the opioid crisis.

“We are issuing the advisory because we know the bootleg fentanyls are here, in Waterloo Region and across Ontario, and know that this is very much a threat to health and safety,” said Michael Parkinson with the local crime prevention council.

In Cincinnati, there has been an outbreak of overdoses with 78 in two days.

More than 6,000 people in Ontario have died of an opioidrelated overdose since 2000.

In 2014, a person died of an opioid-related overdoes every 13 hours, exceeding deaths on Ontario’s roadways.