POLICE ASSOCIATION OF NOVA SCOTIA 65 FENTANYL SURFACES IN CAPE BRETON As originally published on May 19, 2017, Cape Breton Post Cape Breton Regional Police have now recorded their first seizure of the deadly opiate fentanyl. Police seized some 30-40 pills of the synthetic opioid after a search of two homes in Glace Bay that also netted more than 7,000 other pills with a combined street value of $180,000. “We knew there was a possibility it (fentanyl) was in our area but now this is very concerning,” said police spokesperson Desiree Vassello. She said the pills seized will be tested by Health Canada to confirm the presence of fentanyl which has created an opiate crisis in Canada as overdose deaths across the country continue to mount. The fentanyl crisis began on the West Coast and moved east and now Cape Breton joins other Atlantic communities reporting the drug surfacing in their areas such as Halifax, Fredericton, NB, and St. John’s, NL. Vassello said police are urging drug users to exercise caution in their street level drug purchases because so many pills are now being laced with fentanyl. Earlier in 2017, the Ally Centre of Cape Breton issued a warning concerning bootleg oxycodone pills that were circulating in the local area and reportedly contained fentanyl. At the time of the warning, the centre’s executive director Christine Porter said although oxycodone hasn’t been produced since 2012, counterfeit pills were showing up locally and drug users had no idea what the pills actually contained. Pill presses to make the bootleg pills can be purchased over the Internet. As part of national strategy to combat the problem, the centre and regional police are now equipped with naloxone kits — a drug that temporarily reverses the effects of an opioid drug overdose. www.capebretonpost.com
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