2024-02-10 16:15:37
A new opioid 25 times more powerful than fentanyl worries public health in Quebec, which wants to warn the population while this synthetic drug is currently in circulation on the streets of the national capital.
Consumption of this dangerous drug involves an extremely high risk of overdose, notes Doctor Anne-Frédérique Lambert-Slythe.
“It’s playing Russian roulette,” says the medical advisor to the Public Health Department of the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale.
Credit: Nicolas St-Pierre
It was a little earlier this week that health authorities detected a tablet that takes on the round, greenish appearance of OxyContin, but is instead protonitazepyne, which is actually an analogue of fentanyl, but much more powerful. .
This substance is also not detectable by the fentanyl detection strips which are distributed by community organizations, which is of even greater concern to the health authorities.
“Fortunately, there has not yet been an overdose, whether fatal or non-fatal, associated with this substance, and that is precisely why we wanted to alert the population,” mentioned Dr. Lambert -Slythe during a press scrum Saturday morning.
Accidental overdoses
Since the tablets are virtually carbon copies of OxyContin, it is difficult to know whether it is a laboratory-made drug or an actual marketed drug, which might potentially lead to accidental overdoses.
Photo provided by the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale
“There are connoisseurs who know this and who are careful and who are still at risk of overdose […]if someone struggling with a pain problem and who has prescribed opioids, but their doctor does not want to prescribe them more, who slips towards the black market and comes across these tablets, it might be more dangerous,” explains Anne-Frédérique Lambert-Slythe.
“A child might come across these tablets or young people who want to try new drugs, so it is certain that for this population, it is even more dangerous,” she added.
Help available
Fortunately, naloxone, the medication that works to temporarily reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, is also effective in reversing protonitazepyne overdoses.
Multiple doses may be necessary, however, since this opioid is much more potent than many other substances, such as fentanyl.
Substance verification services are also available through the SABSA Solidarity Cooperative’s mobile clinic.
The L’Interzone supervised drug consumption center, in the Saint-Roch district, also remains accessible. In addition to overdose prevention, the center’s workers also offer mental and psychosocial support.
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