It can kill you instantly and it's lethal

North Bay Police hosted a media conference Friday afternoon in conjunction with Medical Officer of Health Dr Jim Chirico and Dr Ian Cowan from the Coroner's Office to discuss the growing issue of the powerful drug Fentanyl making its way onto the street and into the hands of kids and addicts.

Dr. Cowan says Fentanyl, a powerful narcotic can be 50 times more powerful then heroin and up to 100 to 200 times more potent than morphine, has played a role in six sudden deaths in the past year.

“Often times this is associated with other drugs,” Cowen says at the at city police headquarters.

“But we feel that the Fentanyl is playing a major role in killing these people very suddenly. It's a very dangerous drug and should be used only under strict medical supervision.”

“Unfortunately some people are injecting, snorting, chewing these patches and is resulting in a death, so we feel this need to be brought to the public's attention, this drug should not be used by anybody except under strict medical supervision.”



Dr. Chirico says the patch is used during surgeries for good pain management and is designed to release a constant amount of the pain killer over a three day period.

“It is a prescription drug given to patients with moderate to severe long-term pain such as cancer or chronic pain patience.”

Chirico says the drug is being used more and more for its euphoric effect but the consequences of using are lethal.



Detective Barry Ramsey says the police are investigating where and how the drugs are making their way onto the street.