Drug with similar potency to fentanyl detected in Montreal for the first time
Both fentanyl and etodesnitazene, a synthetic opioid new to Montreal, were detected in a paste circulating the drug market. (DRSP de Montréal)
MONTREAL -
The synthetic opioid “etodesnitazene” -- a drug with a similar potency to fentanyl -- has been detected for the first time in Montreal.
The substance was discovered in a purpley-red paste sold on the city’s black market, according to an Oct. 29 report from Montreal’s regional health authority (DRSP). Traces of fentanyl were also detected in the paste.
Although new to Montreal, Etodesnitazene has already been detected in Ontario.
The DRSP has been informed of a recent increase in drug overdoses, the report notes, but it’s unclear whether the uptick is related to this new product.
Risks of overdose are particularly high for users who may be “exposed to it unknowingly, in combination with fentanyl,” the report states.
Little is known about etodesnitazene. Although the drug was created in the 1950s, it is thought to have only recently entered the illegal narcotics circuit.
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