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The Manitoba government is spending more than $500,000 and has created a task force to lead a co-ordinated response to illegal fentanyl use.
The province is looking to get ahead of a potential fentanyl crisis with a new task force, antidote distribution kits and public awareness campaign, officials announced Tuesday.
Fentanyl is 100 times more powerful than morphone and 40 times stronger than heroin and is killing Manitobans.
“The preliminary number that I have for 2015 is 29 deaths where fentanyl was detected,” said Medical officer of health Joss Reimer.
The Task Force will oversee the distribution of 1,300 naloxone (a fentanyl antidote) kits in Winnipeg and launch a public awareness campaign about the drug. The group will also explore expanding addiction support for opioid drug users and reducing wait times for treatment.
The antidote can be injected much like an EpiPen, a medical device used to inject epinephrine in cases of extreme allergic reaction, Reimer said.
“While fentanyl is comforting to some Manitobans in pain, it is ruthlessly killing others,” said Attorney General Gord Mackintosh . “It is leaving in its wake far too many Canadian families who are suffering in grief and shock.”
Those numbers are double what the province has seen in previous years.
It will be distributing the kits to high-risk opiod users through the WRHA. The program will make kits available for emergency overdoses.
“While our ultimate goal is always to prevent drug use, fentanyl has made it necessary to focus our efforts on first ensuring the reduction of harmful consequences for opiod users,” said Minister Deanne Crothers.
RCMP Chief Superintendent Scott Kolody said fentanyl is a problem worldwide. The drug can be mixed in with other street drugs so users may be taking it without their knowledge, he said.
“It’s very unpredictable,” he said. “If you are buying drugs off the street, whether it be meth or Oxycontin, it could be laced with fentanyl.”
Health Minister Sharon Blady said Manitoba hasn’t seen the same number of fentanyl-related deaths as other provinces — yet.
“We are seeing warning signs,” Blady said. “It is important that we act now.”
Agencies/Canadajournal
