Pubdate: Wed, 03 Feb 2016
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright: 2016 The Edmonton Journal
Website: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134
Author: Otiena Ellwand
Page: A2

POLICE FEAR HIGHLY TOXIC DRUG WILL SOON TURN UP IN EDMONTON

Edmonton city police say it's likely just a matter of time before W-18
- - a drug up to 100 times more toxic than fentanyl - is seized here.

Calgary police say they received lab results from Health Canada
confirming three fentanyl pills seized during a drug bust in Rocky
View County in August contained W-18, a type of opioid that's never
been used clinically. Of the 109 pills seized, 20 were tested.

W-18 has a different chemical composition than fentanyl but produces
similar effects to the addictive drug, which has been linked to 270
deaths in Alberta last year, including 65 people in Edmonton.

While W-18 has not been found in Edmonton, city police Insp. Dwayne
Lakusta said drug trends here often mirror those in Calgary.

"We're paying attention to it and we're hoping that we don't see it
just because of how toxic it is," he said. "(But) I would almost
guarantee it's here if Calgary's already seen some."

There are 32 W-series drugs, discovered at the University of Alberta
in 1982, and all vary in toxicity. The most toxic is W-18, followed by
W-19, which is 10 times more toxic than fentanyl, and W-11, which is
one-and-a-half times more toxic, according to information from the
B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

W-18 is difficult to detect and only a few labs in the country are
capable of testing for the drug, Calgary police say. It is considered
10,000 times more potent than morphine in animal studies.

The seizure of the drug in Calgary was the first time Lakusta had ever
heard of it, he said.

"When you're dealing with black market pills you don't know what
exactly is in there," he said. "It's public education, people need to
realize the dangers associated to consuming (them)."

The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams have not made any confirmed
seizures of the drug either, but spokesman Mike Tucker said there's no
way of knowing for sure until seized drugs are tested.

"If drugs are coming in through (Calgary), they're usually making
their way through the rest of the province," he said.

Edmonton police made their largest fentanyl seizure to date on New
Year's Eve. They seized 5,996 green fentanyl pills and 2,930 white
fentanyl pills, worth more than $350,000 together. Some of those pills
are currently being tested by Health Canada, Lakusta said.

- - With files from Calgary Herald
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt