The only safe-injection site in North America says 90% of clients’ heroin contained an opioid many times stronger than morphine

North America’s only supervised injection site for drugs like cocaine, speed and crystal meth has found that 90% of its clients’ heroin contained the powerful synthetic fentanyl.

Vancouver’s Insite, which offers health services including supervised injection, said that of the 173 drug checks it did for fentanyl in a month, 90% tested positive for the potent synthetic drug.

Fentanyl, which is about 30 to 50 times more powerful than heroin, has caught the attention of medical and law enforcement authorities across North America as it becomes connected to more and more deadly overdoses in the opioid epidemic.

“This is happening all over, other cities may not have the same degree of contamination we have here in Vancouver, but it’s coming,” said Mark Lysyshyn, medical health officer with Vancouver Coastal Health, which operates Insite.

This past week in the US, a spate of overdoses broke out in several cities, including Cincinnati, where officials suspect fentanyl is behind 78 overdoses in two days.

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Canada Post has provided notification of restarting their operations on December 17, 2024. As Canada Post ramps up and stabilizes their services, the BC-CfE will continue the following measures on an interim basis to minimize service disruption to BC-CfE clients and providers.

  • The BC-CfE Laboratory will utilize private courier for delivery of outgoing reports and documents. (Lab Contact Information: Phone 604-806-8775; FAX 604-806-9463)
  • The BC-CfE Drug Treatment Program (DTP) will fax outgoing forms and documents to the provider’s office. (DTP Contact Information: Phone 604-806-8515; FAX 604-806-9044)
  • St. Paul’s Hospital Ambulatory Pharmacy will utilize private courier for delivery of medications. (Contact Information: Phone 1-800-547-3622; FAX 604-806-8675)

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