RCMP preparing N.L. officers in fight against fentanyl
More training, equipment and antidote kits being given to front-line officers
The province's RCMP force is taking steps to equip its officers with extra knowledge and tools to fight the encroaching threat of the highly addictive drug fentanyl.
The synthetic opioid, 100 times more potent than heroin, can be prescribed as pain medication but its abuse as a street drug has swept across Canada, killing 488 people in B.C. this year alone.
Newfoundland and Labrador has so far been spared such sobering numbers. But as street drugs typically follow a west-to-east trend, police here aren't waiting around for the crisis to hit.
"In preparation for that, we're doing some training with our front-line officers," said Staff Sgt. Steven Conohan, the head of the province's Clandestine Drug Lab Team.
That training, mainly computer-based, is educating officers on how to identify the signs and symptoms of an overdose, as well as how to treat overdoses with a nasal spray version of the fentanyl antidote naloxone.
"We have roughly 500 kits that are currently on order that will be distributed throughout the province," Conohan told CBC Radio's the Central Morning Show.
Those noloxone kits are in addition to the 1,200 recently funded by the provincial government.
While the kits will be distributed this fall, where they will be made available is still being decided.
Front-line officers will also soon receive gloves and other equipment in case they need to handle fentanyl.
"We're equipping them with personal protective equipment because it can be absorbed trans-dermally, through the skin. So there's a very real concern," Conohan said.
Increasing street seizures
Conohan said officers have been seizing fentanyl "sporadically" in the province.
"This is certainly a new thing for us to be aware of and deal with," he said.
"It's not relegated to any specific area, we're seizing it throughout [the island] as well as in Labrador."
This is certainly a new thing for us to be aware of and deal with.- Steve Conohan
Officers are getting hold of it in patch and powder forms, and also as pills — sometimes mislabled as the less-potent Oxycontin.
"Most concerning of course is fentanyl showing up in pill form, because no one knows what the concentration of the drug is in the pills and, of course, it's very high risk," Conohan said.
"Even if you're an opioid abuser, there's a very real risk of overdose and possibly even death."
The latest tally from Health Minister John Haggie brings the number of fentanyl deaths this year in the province to five. Conohan said the threat of fentanyl isn't far from RCMP minds as the force continues to try to stay ahead of the drug.
"It puts a lot of pressure on us, and we want to remain vigilant in making sure both our front-line officers and the public are safe," he said.
With files from the Central Morning Show