Not ‘party drugs’: Council assesses fentanyl’s impact

Edmonton is battling a new drug overdose crisis that doesn’t fit any standard assumptions, council members were told Monday.

Only 20 per cent of the overdose deaths from fentanyl last year were in core neighbourhoods. Young men in the suburbs are at a much higher risk, city officials said.

“This has gone beyond being an inner-city issue,” Mayor Don Iveson said, adding those dying most often from illicit fentanyl and prescription opioid painkillers are taking them alone at home where no one is available to help when things go wrong.

About half of those who died from a fentanyl or other opioid-related overdoses in the first threequarters of 2016 had a doctor’s prescription for an opioid painkiller within the last 30 days, according to Alberta Health statistics.

These are “not … party drugs,” Coun. Scott McKeen said, adding that the issue is more closely tied to mental health, addiction and chronic pain issues. “They’re used by people who are self-medicating some underlying issue.”

Council’s community services committee received an update from staff Monday, outlining their response to the growing number of deaths from illicit fentanyl and prescribed opioids.

Last week, Alberta Health reported fentanyl was a factor in 109 overdose deaths in Edmonton last year.

Deputy police chief Brian Simpson said his team watches developments in Vancouver closely, because whatever happens there is likely to hit Calgary next and then Edmonton.

The numbers here are trending upward, with fire services responding to 812 related calls in 2016. That’s roughly what Vancouver gets on a monthly basis, fire Chief Ken Block said.

The province is still working to release final numbers on total deaths related to opioids, which include a set of highly addictive painkillers prescribed legally in doctors’ offices.

As of October last year, more Edmonton residents were dying of non-fentanyl opioid drugs, such as morphine and Oxycodone, than fentanyl smuggled in from China. But fentanyl-related deaths were on the rise.

Simpson said police officers are now finding fentanyl cut into many illicit drugs, including heroin, meth and cocaine.

“There’s a higher profit margin in using fentanyl,” Simpson said, adding police have found cases where dealers did not know their drugs were compromised.

Edmonton police have had two cases where carfentanil, a drug many times more potent, was involved. They’ve had to buy specialized equipment that can identify the drugs without requiring an officer to handle it, since fentanyl and carfentanil can be absorbed through the skin.

They’ve also distributed nasal spray kits of naloxone in case police officers accidentally come into contact with the drug. Simpson said Calgary police are investigating what to do with vehicles contaminated with carfentanil. It’s more costly to clean them than to dispose of them, but they need to be treated like hazardous waste.

Naloxone kits are now also available without a prescription from 281 pharmacies in Edmonton.

Edmonton is also working to set up four supervised drug use sites at existing facilities in the inner core. Public consultation on that is starting at the end of this month, with a report due back at council June 5.

Iveson said success there could lead to other facilities across the city.

“We need to make support services for people struggling with these addictions more widespread, not harder to find,” he said. “But I’d rather see those in a supportive housing context ultimately than in a storefront.”