Pubdate: Thu, 01 Dec 2016
Source: Delhi News-Record, The (CN ON)
Copyright: 2016 Sun Media
Contact: http://www.delhinewsrecord.com/letters
Website: http://delhinewsrecord.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2391
Author: Monte Sonnenberg
Page: A1

DRUGS SPIKED WITH DEADLY FENTANYL

Drug dealers who sell narcotics containing fentanyl could face serious
charges beyond trafficking if users are injured or killed.

Charges could range from criminal negligence causing bodily harm or
death to manslaughter and homicide charges.

Insp. Zvonko Horvat, chief of the Norfolk OPP, spelled out the
consequences during the Nov. 23 meeting of the Norfolk Police Services
Board.

"Police are looking at strategies to deal with this," Horvat said.
"Unfortunately, we are not exempt from that in our community."

The matter was raised at the PSB because of a spike in fentanyl
overdoses in the local area recently. Paramedics in Haldimand and
Norfolk responded to four fentanyl overdoses on Nov. 19, one on Nov.
20 and one on Nov. 21.

All were saved with injections of the opioid antidote Narcan. One
victim remained in intensive care as of Tuesday.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid. The fentanyl responsible for an
epidemic of overdoses across North America is imported from China
where it sells for about $3,000 a kilogram.

Fentanyl is about 100 times stronger than morphine. A variation called
carfentanil is 10,000 times stronger and is normally used by
veterinarians to sedate elephants and other large animals.

Carfentanil is so toxic that studies have been done to determine
whether it can be used as a chemical weapon. The fentanyl family of
drugs kills by depressing lung function to the point where users stop
breathing.

"One grain of carfentanil the size of a poppy seed can be fatal," said
Dr. Malcolm Lock, Haldimand and Norfolk's Medical Officer of Health.
"It is being put into other opioids. It's a real concern because users
have no way of detecting it."

The health unit issued a news release Nov. 22 warning that narcotics
are in circulation in Haldimand and Norfolk that have been spiked with
the toxic chemical.

"Our main focus is on harm reduction," Lock said. "We want users to
know their sources are not reliable."

Acting Staff Sgt. Lisa Lambert of the Norfolk OPP said bringing
purveyors of fentanyl to justice is difficult but can be done. She
told the PSB that police are questioning recent overdose victims in a
search for leads.

"There's something in that drug that they are craving and it's having
a real effect on their health," Lambert said. "The people we've dealt
with over the past month are really lucky to be alive."

Windham Coun. Jim Oliver, a Norfolk council appointee to the PSB, said
he hopes police catch a dealer selling this substance and make an
example of them.

"Sooner or later, the dealers will smarten up and say, 'I have to be
careful with what I'm selling here.'"
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MAP posted-by: Matt