By The Canadian Press and information from Alberta Health

Alberta health officials warn of carfentanil after opioid tied to two deaths

Oct 7, 2016 | 3:43 PM

EDMONTON –  Alberta health officials say two recent deaths confirm an opioid deadlier than fentanyl is circulating in the province.

Alberta’s chief medical officer of health Karen Grimsrud says the drug is carfentanil and it is about 100 times more toxic than fentanyl.

“Albertans need to know that the drug carfentanil has made its way into our province and that it is an extremely dangerous and deadly opioid. The smallest trace of carfentanil can be lethal and Albertans should be aware of the life-threatening dangers in using this drug.”

The drug is used to sedate large animals like elephants and Grimsrud says a dose as small as a grain of sand is enough to kill a human being.

Grimsrud says this week Alberta’s medical examiner detected carfentanil in the bodies of two Alberta men in their 30s, one in Calgary and the other in Edmonton.

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Acting Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Elizabeth Brooks-Lin explains it is very difficult of confirm  carfentanil in human blood due to the very low level of the drug being deadly. 

“To my knowledge, there are very few laboratories in North America that are able to measure carfentanil in human blood. Alberta’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is believed to be the first toxicology laboratory in Canada to positively identify carfentanil in human blood. The discovery of this dangerous drug is concerning to us, and we will continue to work closely with our health partners, as part of sharing information and raising awareness of opioids.”

 Mounties say this summer they seized a cache of carfentanil in Alberta that had the potential to create 50 million lethal doses.

There have been 153 fentanyl related deaths in Alberta so far this year, compared with 139 over the same time period last year.