Pubdate: Wed, 09 Aug 2017 Source: London Free Press (CN ON) Copyright: 2017 The London Free Press Contact: http://www.lfpress.com/letters Website: http://www.lfpress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/243 Author: Dale Carruthers Page: A1 WAS POT ALERT WISE WARNING OR BLOWING SMOKE? Proactive public health warning, or scare tactic? A heated debate has erupted after the London region's top public health official warned that illegal drugs, including marijuana, could be contaminated with fentanyl, a powerful painkiller already blamed for hundreds of overdose deaths in Canada this year. There's no shortage of skepticism about part of that warning, involving pot, especially since there's never been a confirmed case of fentanyl-laced marijuana in Canada. Though multiple warnings that fentanyl-contaminated cannabis have circulated in communities - even former B.C. premier Christy Clark made the claim last year - both the RCMP and Canada's health minister have said the rumours haven't been proven. In London, the joint warning last week from police and three health agencies, including the regional public health office, came after drug users who self-reported taking only pot or heroin were given urine tests that came back positive for fentanyl, a drug up to 100 times more powerful than morphine. Amid suggestions fentanyl-laced pot is more urban legend than public health risk, London's top public health official and the city's police chief both stood behind the warning Tuesday. "We never said that we were 100 per cent positive that marijuana was contaminated with fentanyl," said Dr. Christopher Mackie, Middlesex-London's medical officer of health. "Street drugs have inherent risks associated, and I think it's really dangerous when people try to deny that." At the heart of the debate is what prompted the controversial alert: Drug addicts taking suboxone to treat opioid addiction, who may have been motivated to lie about their illegal drug use to obtain take-home doses of their medication. "Was it possible that we were given inaccurate information? Yes, that is possible," Mackie said. David Juurlink, a drug safety specialist at the University of Toronto, said he's never heard of fentanyl added to marijuana. "I'm not sure why one would lace cannabis with fentanyl," said the head of clinical pharmacology and toxicology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Drug dealers will add fentanyl to substances like methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and opioid pills because it's a cost-effective way to increase the drugs' potency, Juurlink said. "It's a financial decision," he said. This isn't the first time Canadian officials have sounded the alarm on fentanyl-laced marijuana. The RCMP issued a warning last fall, saying they believed marijuana contaminated with fentanyl was being sold in Masset, B.C. But the warning was based solely on concerns from community members and no fentanyl-laced pot had been seized. Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott set the record straight in March after a Conservative MP raised concerns about fentanyl and pot being combined. "In fact, there is zero evidence. Very important that everyone understands that - and we have confirmed this with chiefs of police, law enforcement officials across this country - there is zero documented evidence that ever in this country cannabis has been found laced with fentanyl," Philpott said at the time. "So it's very important that we make sure that that message is clear." London police haven't seized any marijuana containing fentanyl, but the city's police chief backs up the warning by the Middlesex-London Health Unit, saying illegal drugs always carry risks. "You think you are getting one drug, but there is no guarantee that it doesn't contain other more dangerous substances," Chief John Pare wrote in an email. "The London police service supports the (warning) from the (Middlesex-London) Health Unit for the purposes of drug awareness education and public safety." MPP Jeff Yurek, the Progressive Conservative health critic at Queen's Park, defended the health unit's warning, saying it's better to err on the side of caution. "We are in an opioid crisis and fentanyl is killing quite a few people," the Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP said, adding Ontario has been slow to react to the problem. Mackie warned that drug contamination poses a threat to marijuana users, citing reports showing pot was tainted with pesticides and fungus. "The idea that marijuana is somehow special . . . that there couldn't possibly be anything dangerous in this sacred herb, is really unjustifiable," said Mackie, who previously suggested pot users keep the antioverdose medication naloxone handy. The recommendation drew criticism from marijuana users who accused Mackie of demonizing cannabis, the most commonly taken illegal drug in Canada. "I understand why people think we may have overreacted here," Mackie said. "I think there's also a dramatic overreaction among people who have this really emotional attachment to the drugs they use - that's probably . . . more dangerous." - --- MAP posted-by: Matt