OPP are warning the public after a series of opioid overdoses in the Arnprior area. There have been at least five suspected overdoses in the past week.
"Access to several extremely dangerous opioids is not limited to larger cities, these drugs have infiltrated every corner of our province in some form or another," says Constable Tina Hunt. "Purple heroin, known locally as 'Purp', is typically a combination of heroin mixed with either fentanyl and/or carfentanil. Fentanyl is 40 times more potent than heroin and carfentanil is 100 times more potent than fentanyl."
There is no way for users to know exactly what substances are in illicit drugs.
Carfentanil is so dangerous that quantities as small as a grain of sand, could be lethal. Samples from the same batch of drugs could differ in content enough that one user survives and another does not. These potent opioids are also being added to other seemingly benign drugs such as cannabis.
"When you buy drugs on the street, there is no way of telling whether they have been laced with more powerful substances such as opioids," explains Hunt. "You can't see them. You can't smell them. You can't taste them. If you buy and consume any type of illicit drug, you are putting yourself and potentially others at extreme risk!"
Anyone who encounters a person who appears to be in a state of overdose should immediately call 911.
