First distributed in the 1960s as an intravenous anesthetic, fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times stronger than heroin. As one of the world’s most frequently used opioid analgesics, fentanyl’s high potency poses a severe risk of overdose, particularly when consumed unknowingly through dealer lacing. With a mere[Read More…]
Tag: fentanyl
Policy and research struggle to keep up with opioid epidemic
Although once upheld as an exemplary source of pain relief, opioid painkillers have quickly come to cause a deadly health emergency across North America. While in 2016 there were 2,458 reported opioid-related deaths in Canada, 2017 saw a considerable increase to 3,987 deaths. In light of this growing crisis, the[Read More…]
Quebec safe injection sites need to catch up to fentanyl crisis
Since 2015, the fentanyl crisis has taken Canada by storm: The Public Health Agency of Canada estimated that over 4,000 Canadians lost their lives to opioid-related overdose in 2017. On Jan. 12, Dr. Carole Morissette, Montreal Public Health medical chief, delivered a public health warning to recreational drug users, signalling[Read More…]
Threat of fentanyl looms over recreational drug users on campus
After several reports of overdoses in Quebec caused by fentanyl—a synthetic opioid that can be deadly, even when ingested in minute doses—Dr. Carole Morissette, the medical chief of Montreal Public Health, issued a public warning on Jan. 12 urging recreational drug users to abstain from using cocaine and other powdered[Read More…]
Canada’s fentanyl crisis by the numbers
The scientific community describes the fentanyl crisis in these general words: Catastrophic and growing. Over the past decade, Canadian researchers have observed the deadly effects of the growing trend of cutting fentanyl into powdered party drugs. With the help of Edith Zorychta, associate professor in the Department of Pharmacology and[Read More…]
Floor fellows’ naloxone training aims to counter fentanyl crisis
In September 2017, Montreal Public Health declared the increasing presence of fentanyl in recreational drugs a public health emergency. Since the beginning of 2017, 10 drug overdoses linked to fentanyl—two of which were fatal—have occurred in Montreal. To counter the fentanyl crisis, McGill Student Health Services (SHS) held Naloxone administration[Read More…]
The McGill community must confront the fentanyl crisis—or risk fatal consequences
McGill Frosh week just ended. It’s September’s biggest party, and, for many students, a comprehensive introduction to the school’s drinking and drug culture. Healthy McGill, Floor Fellows, and other student leaders encourage first-years to have fun, but be safe—they acknowledge that some young people do drugs, and emphasize harm reduction over lecturing[Read More…]
A deadly high: Universities must take measures to educate and protect against fentanyl overdoses
Amelia and Hardy Leighton were, by all appearances, a young, happy, stable married couple from North Vancouver. They decided to celebrate the purchase of their first home—fit with a yard for their two-year-old son—by getting a little high. On July 20, they were found dead in their home. The cause[Read More…]