Fentanyl’s far deadlier cousin carfentanil found in Downtown Eastside, police say

Carfentanil, a relation to fentanyl but 100 times more toxic, has been found on the streets of the Downtown Eastside, the Vancouver Police Department said Tuesday.

VPD officers were investigating a man on Powell Street near Heatley on Sept. 20 after getting a report he was in possession of a firearm, Staff Sgt. Randy Fincham said. Police who searched the man found a can of bear spray and several grams of what they believed to be heroin. They charged the man with drug-related offences.

Two samples of the drug were sent to Health Canada for testing. On Tuesday, the federal agency said the samples contained trace amounts of carfentanil, an analog of fentanyl. A chemical analog is a compound that is similar to, but slightly different from, another chemical compound.

Addiction experts have said as little as 20 micrograms of carfentanil is enough to kill a person. A microgram is smaller than a grain of salt.

“We haven’t seen any overdoses at our location today, but the past week has been insanity,” Sarah Blyth, a volunteer with the Overdose Prevention Society, said.

There were 175 overdoses in a five-day period last week, but nothing to link them to carfentanil.

“It was just one after another,” Blyth said. “It was taking up to five vials of (opiate antidote) Narcan, usually it takes one.

“So if (carfentanil) is worse than fentanyl and it’s going to happen, we are in trouble.”

The society has been operating two pop-up tents in the Downtown Eastside and planned to put up a third Tuesday night.

Police are warning opioid drug users and people who know them to be aware of signs of overdose.

Early signs include severe sleepiness, slow heartbeat, trouble breathing or slow, shallow breathing or snoring, clammy skin and trouble walking or talking, Fincham said.

The police also warn anyone injecting, snorting or swallowing drugs to never do it alone.