Overdoses from tainted drugs more likely in N.L. as street supply dries up, advocates warn

A dwindling illicit drug supply in Newfoundland and Labrador may have contributed to a recent spate of overdoses, harm reduction workers warn.

These days, "you get whatever you get," explains Emily Wadden, a coordinator with the Safe Works Access Program in St. John's. "There isn't that choice there was before."

The RCMP cautioned last month of a "reddish-brown substance" circulating in the Harbour Grace region, where at least three people recently overdosed. Two were treated in hospital, and one person died, police said.

Wadden and other frontline workers say that trend could continue, as the highly-toxic opioid fentanyl trickles into the province — a place once largely insulated from the contaminated drug supply plaguing western parts of Canada.

"People have been messaging me, saying there's bad drugs out there and you gotta be cautious," said Jeff Bourne, director of the U-Turn Drop-in Centre, an addictions recovery and support group in Carbonear.

Until toxicology reports come back, Bourne won't know whether the drugs involved in last month's overdoses were tainted, and if so, what they were laced with. An RCMP spokesperson told CBC News on Tuesday that investigators were still waiting for lab results.

But Bourne worries low supply may push people toward other substances or unknown sources when they can't find their drug of choice, increasing the risk that they end up in hospital.

He and other advocates are also eyeing concerning trends moving east across Canada, pointing out that new concoctions — like a batch of counterfeit Dilaudid pills containing a Isotonitazene, an opioid similar to fentanyl recently flagged by Eastern Health as potentially circulating here — often arrive in Newfoundland and Labrador weeks or months later.

Benzodiazepines, methamphetamine and powerful synthetic opioids can all have adverse effects when taken unknowingly, Bourne said.

"It's great to get drugs off the streets," he said. "But what's replacing it?" 

Jane Henderson, the harm reduction consultant for Eastern Health, said decreased movement throughout the pandemic hasn't spared the illicit drug trade.

"People have been saying that it has been harder to get their substance of choice, and they've had to use something else," Henderson said. "That puts them at risk for an opiate overdose."

She points to several harm-reduction measures someone can take if they're using drugs, such as taking smaller amounts, slowly. "Know your substances. Know your drug dealer," she said.

Wadden, too, urges phoning a hotline or friend before taking any substance, despite the stigma attached to drug use. "It's embarrassing. It's intimate. It's private," she said. "A lot of people are using alone."