Urgent alert issued for all of Interior Health; tainted drugs bring lethal overdose risk

KAMLOOPS — Interior Health (IH) has issued an urgent alert for its entire jurisdiction due to tainted street drugs.

In an urgent release Wednesday (Feb. 16), the IH Harm Reduction Team says multiple drug samples have been found to include up to 55 per cent fentanyl. The typical average is around 10 per cent.

Some samples have also been detected to include up to 25 per cent benzodiazepines. IH says the average is only around one or two per cent.

The drugs sampled have been sold as ‘Down,’ heroin or fentanyl, and come in a wide range of colours and textures.

IH says the risk for users is a high likelihood of overdose with severe complications, including death.

In addition, benzodiazepines may mitigate the effects of naloxone, which is commonly used on opioid overdose victims.