Warnings of fentanyl-laced pot greeted with skepticism

Health officials and police say threat is real but others suggest it’s more of an urban legend

Proactive public health warning, or scare tactic?

A heated debate has erupted after the London region’s top public health official warned that illegal drugs, including marijuana, could be contaminated with fentanyl, a powerful painkiller already blamed for hundreds of overdose deaths in Canada this year.

There’s no shortage of skepticism about part of that warning, involving pot, especially since there’s never been a confirmed case of fentanyl-laced marijuana in Canada.

Though multiple warnings that fentanyl-contaminated cannabis have circulated in communities — even former B.C. premier Christy Clark made the claim last year — both the RCMP and Canada’s health minister have said the rumours haven’t been proven.

In London, the joint warning last week from police and three health agencies, including the regional public health office, came after drug users who self-reported taking only pot or heroin were given urine tests that came back positive for fentanyl, a drug up to 100 times more powerful than morphine.

Amid suggestions fentanyl-laced pot is more urban legend than public health risk, London’s top public health official and the city’s police chief both stood behind the warning.

“We never said that we were 100 per cent positive that marijuana was contaminated with fentanyl,” said Dr. Christopher Mackie, Middlesex-London’s medical officer of health. “Street drugs have inherent risks associated, and I think it’s really dangerous when people try to deny that.”

At the heart of the debate is what prompted the controversial alert: Drug addicts taking suboxone to treat opioid addiction, who may have been motivated to lie about their illegal drug use to obtain takehome doses of their medication.

“Was it possible that we were given inaccurate information? Yes, that is possible,” Mackie said.

David Juurlink, a drug safety specialist at the University of Toronto, said he’s never heard of fentanyl added to marijuana.

Drug dealers will add fentanyl to substances like methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and opioid pills because it’s a cost-effective way to increase the drugs’ potency, said Juurlink.

This isn’t the first time Canadian officials have sounded the alarm on fentanyl-laced marijuana.

The RCMP issued a warning last fall, saying they believed marijuana contaminated with fentanyl was being sold in Masset, B.C.

But the warning was based solely on concerns from community members and no fentanyl-laced pot was seized.

Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott set the record straight in March after a Conservative MP raised concerns.

“In fact, there is zero evidence. Very important that everyone understands that — and we have confirmed this with chiefs of police, law enforcement officials across this country — there is zero documented evidence that ever in this country cannabis has been found laced with fentanyl,” Philpott said.