‘The zombie drug’: Health Canada finds more animal tranquillizer in illicit drugs

WATCH: A potent animal tranquilizer is making its way into Canadian street drugs at an exponential rate.

A potent animal tranquilizer is making its way into Canadian street drugs at an exponential rate.

Medetomidine is used to sedate animals and is only approved for veterinary use.

Health Canada first detected the animal sedative in the illicit drug market in 2022 in Brantford, Ontario.

The following year, in 2023, Health Canada identified 158 cases of medetomidine.

Last year, the number surged to 1,227 occurrences, Health Canada told CTV News in an email.

Before Christmas, RCMP issued a warning about medetomidine after it was found mixed with fentanyl in St. John’s, NL — calling it “an extremely lethal combination.”

Amid Saskatoon’s fentanyl overdose crisis, the city’s safe consumption site, Prairie Harm Reduction (PHR), is on high alert for the animal sedative.

“They call it ‘the zombie drug,‘” PHR Executive Director Kayla DeMong said.

“It creates an extra level of overdose response because it doesn’t respond to naloxone.”

Saskatoon Police Chief Cam McBride said he’s seen naloxone less effective in reversing fentanyl overdoses when the drug is mixed with sedatives, like benzodiazepines.

“We’re administering naloxone in large doses, and it’s just not having the results that we would normally see when we have a more pure fentanyl product,” McBride said.

Why are tranquilizers getting added to fentanyl?

Dr. Alexander Caudarella, CEO of the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, said sedatives get mixed with fentanyl “because there’s a perception that it makes the high better.”

“It actually leads to a lot more deaths and harm,” Caudarella told CTV News.

“These chemicals that go into drug-making are, unfortunately, quite easy to get.”

Why would drug suppliers kill their clients?

Caudarella said the people making the drugs aren’t professionals.

“They don’t know what they’re doing,” Caudarella said.

“It’s really easy to accidentally make one per cent [fentanyl], three per cent — even if they’re not doing it on purpose.”

Saskatoon’s police chief said suppliers aren’t thinking about their clients’ wellbeing.

“They do not care. It’s quick money ... it’s all about the money, they do not care about people whatsoever,” McBride said.

Why is fentanyl showing up as bright colours?

Recent drug busts show fentanyl in brick form, in various colours.

The medetomidine-fentanyl mixture seized in St. John’s was a blue powder. Last month, Regina police seized 7.5 kilograms of fentanyl in pink, blue, yellow and green slabs.

Gillian Kolla, a public health researcher, said she first saw fentanyl being coloured in 2017, in Toronto.

Kolla said it’s a way for sellers to distinguish fentanyl from other white-powder drugs.

“So for example, it was to prevent somebody who wanted to buy crystal methamphetamine from accidentally buying fentanyl. So you dye the fentanyl bright blue,” Kolla, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Medicine at Newfoundland’s Memorial University, told CTV News.

Caudarella said colouring fentanyl could be “a branding exercise” — to differentiate different fentanyl compounds and potency.

McBride said the colours may represent sellers or suppliers.

“There is, I hear, some signature to it. The addition of colours to represent a particular person or group and what they’re wanting to distribute,” McBride said.

How is illicit fentanyl getting into Canada?

Kolla said Canada’s seen a shift from plant-based drugs, to lab-made drugs.

“It’s easier to bring synthetic fentanyls into the country than it was to bring in heroin. Heroin is bulkier, it also requires fields and farmers to produce the opium poppies,” Kolla said.

Caudarella said the drugs can be assembled abroad, but there’s been an increase in local production.

“When you don’t need a lot of experience, when you can make it really cheaply, it means that production moves closer to where it’s being sold,” Caudarella said.

In the fall, RCMP discovered a “super lab” in Langley, BC — capable of producing multiple kilograms of fentanyl a week, according to police.

Can we track Canadian drug trends by geography?

Kolla said it’s difficult to track drug movement and note trends.

“And the reason is, because it is illegal,” Kolla said.

“People who are trying to move these substances around don’t generally like to talk.”

DeMong keeps close communication with other safe consumption sites in neighbouring provinces.

“Drugs come from all over the place, but we do often see a flow through Edmonton to here; Regina often sees a flow through Calgary,” DeMong said.

“Typically, whatever happens out west, we kind of follow later.”

What happens to fentanyl seized by police?

McBride said seized drugs get tested and destroyed.

“Most of it is burned,” the police chief said.

McBride said most illicit drug testing is done off-site.

Health Canada’s Drug Analysis Service operates labs across Canada that analyze drugs seized by police and samples submitted by public health partners.