'I'm horrified': N.B. advocates, users worried about animal tranquilizer
Four or five times a week, Josue Goguen tests street drugs at Ensemble in Moncton, N.B., to see exactly what's in them.
Since January, just over 10 per cent of what's been tested at the harm reduction clinic have had Xylazine in them.
Josue Goguen, overdose prevention service coordinator at Ensemble Greater Moncton, tests an unknown substance. (Derek Haggett/CTV Atlantic)
Xylazine is a powerful animal tranquilizer being used as an additive in opioids like fentanyl to prolong their effects.
Ensemble executive director Debby Warren said it represses breathing and heart rate and it's not safe for human consumption.
“It also effects their skin and causes horrific skin infections. Infections that can go very deep. Infections that could lead to amputation and are hard to heal,” said Warren.
Homeless advocate John Renton knew it was only a matter of time before it showed up in Moncton.
“I'm horrified by it. I think this summer is going to be tragic. Probably the worst we've ever seen,” said Renton. “It's not approved for humans. It's something that's made to stop a rhino or an elephant. It causes necrosis of the flesh. It leaves the user to be walking zombies.”
Ensemble client Eric “Stitch MacLeod” is aware of it and said using Xylazine in other drugs seems to be more common practice because fentanyl has become a hard commodity to find.
He’s very much aware taking street drugs could have the animal tranquilizer in it.
“We're gambling every day. But even before that we were gambling. Most street drugs are put together half the time in someone's bathtub. You never know what you're putting in your skin or what you're inhaling,” said MacLeod.
Warren said the main fear about Xylazine is the toxicity of it and overdoses are occurring not because substance users are taking too much, they just may not know what they were taking.
“They didn't get what they thought they were purchasing," she said.
Staff at Ensemble started training in January to see what is in the drugs commonly used by their clients in hopes of preventing overdoses.
“Every three and a half days a New Brunswicker is dying from these toxic, poisonous substances on the street,” said Warren. “The difference between their substance and the substance we call alcohol and cannabis is this group has a prohibition on it.”
Renton said there’s a good chance the people who are selling drugs aren't making them.
“They're buying it elsewhere and they don't know what's in it. Perhaps they're cooking it back further and adding more things to it,” said Renton.
Putting additives in drugs to increase the amount that can be sold goes back decades, Renton said.
“That's always happened to the drug supply,” he said. “Back in the seventies pot used to have herbs thrown in it to increase the volume. Now that's what they're doing with stuff that's out there now and it's no pot, it's a whole lot worse.”
For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Serial sexual offender linked to unsolved 1970s homicides of four Calgary girls, women
An investigation into unsolved historical homicides from the 1970s linked the deaths of two girls and two young women in and around Calgary to a now-deceased serial offender.
Scottie Scheffler isn't the first pro golfer to be arrested during a tournament
Scottie Scheffler's arrest hours before his second-round tee time at the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, will go down as one of the most shocking in professional golf history. It certainly wasn't the first, though.
NEW What a wildfire survivor says she regrets not grabbing before leaving home
Carol Christian had 15 minutes to evacuate her home during the Fort McMurray wildfires in 2016. She ended up losing the house and everything inside. Now, she wants to share the lessons she learned.
Woman with liver failure rejected for a transplant after medical review highlights alcohol use
For nearly three months, Amanda Huska has been in an Ontario hospital, part of it on life support, because of severe liver failure. Her history of alcohol use is getting in the way of her only potential treatment: a liver transplant.
Canadian convicted of attacking Nancy Pelosi's husband with a hammer sentenced to 30 years
The man convicted of attempting to kidnap then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and attacking her husband with a hammer was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison.
World No. 1 golfer charged with police officer assault before PGA Championship second round
World number one golfer Scottie Scheffler was arrested and charged with the assault of a police officer in what he called a 'chaotic situation' before being released in time to start his second round at the PGA Championship on Friday.
Australia's richest woman seeks removal of her portrait from exhibition
Art is subjective. And while many artists long to share their work with the world, there's no guarantee that the audience will understand it, or even like it.
B.C. optometrist warns against trending eye colour change procedure
A medical procedure that can permanently change a person's eye colour may be trending on social media, but a B.C. optometrist is warning about the significant risks associated.
An airplane passenger was spotted in an overhead bin. This was the reaction
Airplane overhead compartments. Home to luggage of all shapes and sizes, the odd coat or two, several duty-free bags, a fair bit of dust and… passengers?