Health unit warns about purple fentanyl

Southwestern Public Health has issued an alert about purple fentanyl after some drug users reported a surge in overdoses.

The alert by the health unit was to other health organizations in St. Thomas and Elgin County who come into contact with people who use illegal opioids.

“We received word from one of our health-care provider organizations that they had received stories from their clients who were illicit drug users that there had been a number of overdoses witnessed by the users over the past week,” said Dr. Joyce Lock, medical officer of health for Elgin and Oxford counties.

Fentanyl is at the centre of the opioid epidemic sweeping across Southwestern Ontario. There were nine fatalities attributed to the potent drug in Southwestern Ontario in one week at the beginning of April, including a 17-year-old boy in Woodstock.

Lock said many of the overdoses in the St. Thomas and Elgin County area were not reported because the person recovered on their own or were helped by their friends using naloxone, an antidote to opioid overdoses.

“We are unable to confirm the information. It is second-hand information. However, because we are aware that high potency fentanyl is circulating in communities around Elgin and that there have been deaths in these other communities we felt it was important to get a message out,” Lock said.

She said the alert was specifically about purple fentanyl because that’s what drug users said they were using.

“We don’t know anything about the substance,” Lock said.

Lock said staff at Southwestern Public Health doesn’t know whether the purple fentanyl circulating in St. Thomas and Elgin County is related to the overdose deaths in neighbouring communities.

“We do know material is circulating that is causing harm to these users,” Lock said.

Opioids can cause users to stop breathing if taken in high doses.

Lock said if people are going to use drugs, they should do so with a friend so if someone does overdose help can be called. She also recommends everyone be equipped with naloxone.

“They should be aware that we have mental health and addictions services readily available in our area, that there is drop-in availability so they can get help anytime at all if they want to try and deal with the addictions.”

lbroadley@postmedia.com