TORONTO -- On the streets, it’s called “down,” sometimes “purple” or “yellow”. They are benign names for a dangerous mix of fentanyl and heroin that has taken hold among users in Winnipeg and northern Ontario.
The deadly drug is quickly taking over meth as one of the most popular street drugs, as meth supplies run out, trafficking routes are cut off due COVID-19 border closures and police are making significant meth seizures.
“That has become the drug of choice during this time when it’s become very difficult, if not impossible to get meth on the streets,” said Marion Willis, executive director of St. Boniface Street Links.
A tiny bag costs about $30 and a hit can come as cheap as five bucks -- along with the risk of death.
From Manitoba’s largest city to the small community of Kenora, Ont., health officials have seen two deaths this week presumed to be overdoses related to the drug, and “many, many other non-fatal overdoses,” said Dr. Jonny Grek, a family physician based in Kenora.
The Winnipeg police says it has been very aware of the drug for quite some time.
Users overdose when the ratio of the drug is off, such as too much fentanyl or “hot spots” created by fentanyl not mixing properly, according to Insp. Max Waddell of the Organized Crime Division. But with drug users often found with more than one drug in their system, determining an exact cause of the overdose death can be difficult, he added.
Winnipeg’s health authority is not tracking the overdoses and deaths related to this drug yet, but anecdotally, the city’s firefighters and paramedics are answering more calls requiring naloxone, the medication that counteracts the effects of an opioid overdose.
“We encounter patients that are either not breathing, they’re unconscious, they can be in seizures. Their airways can be compromised to the point where we have to tube them,” said Cory Guest, paramedic and public education co-ordinator with the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service.
There has been a two-fold increase in calls requiring naloxone year-over-year, according to the WFPS. This past June, naloxone had to be administered to 179 patients compared to 87 the same period last year. And in the first 15 days in July, there were 137 patients requiring the medication compared with 34 a year ago -- a four-fold increase.
“We are getting reports from our field crews that they’re responding to opiate overdoses significantly more, the last few weeks -- easily,” said Guest.
Advocates want more treatment capacity and health services to support and help users -- a reminder that the drug epidemic did not disappear during the pandemic.
“One is kind of playing on the other in strange ways and this isn’t going to get any better. This is costing people their lives,” said Willis.
With files from Michelle Gerwing in Winnipeg
