THUNDER BAY - The spokesperson for the Thunder Bay Drug Strategy says local health officials are "mindful of and watching for" carfentanil, an extremely powerful opioid that has shown up in some southern Ontario communities and in Winnipeg.
Its street name in the Manitoba capital is Drop Dead, reflecting the fact it is 100 times more toxic than fentanyl and 10,000 times more toxic than morphine.
The synthetic opioid was originally developed as a sedative for large animals such as elephants.
In its raw form, it looks like grains of salt, but Winnipeg police have said it's being sold there in blotter form, infused into a small piece of paper on which it dries.
It has been distributed in southern Ontario in pills, sometimes disguised as OxyContin.
The Thunder Bay Police drug unit has not as yet encountered carfentanil in the city.
Thunder Bay Drug Strategy coordinator Cynthia Olsen told Tbnewswatch she can't predict when or if it might show up, noting that substance use trends can differ from community to community, but added "it's definitely something we need to be mindful of...arriving here."
Olsen said the fatal use of opioids of all kinds is a national crisis that requires heightened awareness and the sharing of information about the potency of drugs such as fentanyl and carfentanil.
"If people are using drugs they have obtained illicitly and don't necessarily know what's in them, we would recommend that you take a small amount at first, and if you are in a group, don't take it all at the same time."
Naloxone, which is distributed in Thunder Bay by outreach workers and also available through pharmacies, may be administered to counter the effects of a toxic dose, but in the case of carfentanil, Olsen said, a higher dose of naloxone may be required.
She added that there is some misinformation being perpetuated in the media.
"We've been hearing reports of the high-dose carfentanil being transferred through the skin, and people overdosing from that. The Ontario Poison Centre has indicated that is actually a myth."
The centre has cautioned. however, that it is possible for someone who touches carfentanil with their hand to absorb it accidentally by touching their hand to their mouth or eyes.
Referring to the opioid problem in general, Olsen said she welcomes the recent announcement that Ontario will hire more front-line addiction and mental health workers across the province but worries that the response to the crisis may not be as proportional as that for other public health issues such as the SARS epidemic (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in 2003.
"Less people died and more monetary resources were pooled, and it was responded to in a much quicker fashion."
Olsen said she hopes the government will maintain the current momentum to equip communities with resources to connect with people at risk of dying from opioids.
