Achi news desk-
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Grande Prairie RCMP issued an alert Friday after it was revealed that fentanyl linked to a fatal overdose was mixed with a chemical that does not respond to naloxone treatment.
The drugs were initially seized on February 28 after a fatal overdose, and this week, Health Canada reported back to Mounties that the fentanyl was mixed with Bromazolam, a benzodiazepine.
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Mounties say this is the first recorded case of Bromazolam in Alberta. The drug has previously been linked to nine fatal overdoses in New Brunswick in 2022.
The pills seized in Alberta were oval-shaped and stamped with “20” and “SS,” although Mounties say they can come in other forms.
Naloxone treatment, which is given in many cases of opioid toxicity, is not effective in reversing the effects of Bromazalam, Mounties said, and therefore, any fentanyl mixed with the benzodiazepine “would see a reduced effectiveness of naloxone, which requiring the use of additional doses and it could still lead to death.”
Between January and November of last year, there were 1,706 opioid-related deaths in Alberta, and 57 benzodiazepine-related deaths, up from 1,375 and 43, respectively, in 2022.
Mounties say officers responded to about 1,100 opioid-related calls for service last year with a third of those proving fatal. RCMP officers also used naloxone 67 times while in the field, a jump of almost a third over the previous year.
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