4 suspected fentanyl-related deaths in 7 weeks fuel Yukon fears

Yukon's top doctor is worried about an increase in the number of fentanyl-related deaths in the territory, with four people dying from suspected overdoses in the past seven weeks and the Christmas holidays just beginning.

"This is a party time. So there's possibly more access, more availability of fentanyl and other potentially-dangerous drugs that are going to be around," said Dr. Brendan Hanley, Yukon's Chief Medical Officer of Health.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50-100 times more toxic than morphine. Hanley said it is difficult to know if fentanyl is hidden in drugs because it cannot be seen, and there is no smell or taste.

Yukon's chief coroner, Kirsten Macdonald, announced the territory's first fentanyl-related death last April. Since then more suspicious deaths have occurred.

Five total deaths in territory possibly fentanyl-related 

"We've had a total of five deaths where fentanyl has either been confirmed or we're suspicious that fentanyl is playing a role; fentanyl or something like it," Hanley said.

"Two of the five deaths we have confirmed that fentanyl has been playing at least a part in contributing to the death. In three of the cases — the three more recent deaths in the last few weeks — the circumstances are very suspicious for opioid overdose. We're thinking fentanyl, it looks like fentanyl, but toxicology results are still pending on those so we're not able to confirm," he said.

The names of the deceased are not being released. Hanley said the people have little in common. There have been deaths both within and outside of Whitehorse and the age range is young adult to middle age

"We're seeing a whole range of circumstances ranging of demographics, range of socio-economic backgrounds. This is literally affecting the whole spectrum of society," he said.

Hanley is advising illicit drug users to carry naloxone kits. The kits are used to reverse the effects of potential overdoses.

People using illegal drugs who decide not to, or cannot abstain from these drugs, should at least use the buddy system to mitigate the risk, he said.

"The person who is witnessing an overdose is the one who uses the kit. You break open an ampule, draw up the naloxone and inject it into the muscle," Hanley said.

But he added the kits are no replacement for emergency services.  

"The other important part of using the kit is calling for help." 

Two Whitehorse locations providing kits

​Naloxone kits are available in Whitehorse at the Taiga Medical Clinic and at a local agency that focuses on harm reduction in the territory, Blood Ties, Four Directions. It also provides training on how to use the kits.

Opioids, including morphine, heroin and fentanyl, are the third leading cause of substance-related deaths in Yukon, next to alcohol and tobacco, Hanley has said.

B.C. coroner Lisa Lapointe said Monday 128 people died of illicit drug overdose in that province in November — an average of four people per day.

Those numbers are the highest recorded in a single month in B.C.

• Drug overdose deaths in B.C. reach all-time high in November