Days after Mayor Denis Coderre said the city is working on an action plan concerning fentanyl use and overdoses, the city’s public health officials have acknowledged the drug is a growing problem.
According to data compiled by health officials, one out of five of Montreal’s drug users are exposed to fentanyl, sometimes inadvertently.
Officials looked at urine samples from dozens of drug users who were treated in hospital for overdoses in the last month. Of that sample, fentanyl was detected in 10 cases where the patient had said they had used cocaine or a cocaine and heroin mix.
Staff in Montreal’s hospitals are being encouraged to routinely collect urine samples from overdose patients to help public health monitor the situation.
Fentanyl is an opioid that is 40 times more potent than heroin. According to the Quebec coroner’s office, the drug has been responsible for 12 deaths in the past month and as many as 90 so far this year.
Social worker Jessica Turmel, who works with outreach group Grip Montreal, told CTV Montreal said that while monitoring the amount of users is a good start, much more needs to be done to control the drug’s spread. She pointed out that Naloxon, a temporary antidote for fentanyl overdoses, is available for free in only five of Montreal’s pharmacies, leaving large areas of the city uncovered.
“It’s very important to make it accessible to as many people as we can. Ambulance, police officers, people who use drugs, it’s very important to make it accessible and free to those people to save lives.”
According to Montreal police chief Philippe Pichet, a plan is underway to equip SPVM officers with Naloxon kits.
