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Drug 100 times stronger than Fentanyl detected here
A drug that is 100 times more powerful than Fentanyl has been detected in Cranbrook.
The Cranbrook First Nations Policing Unit (FNP) has reported, through Cranbrook RCMP, that the drug ‘W18’ has been detected in the city and the public “should be advised that medical studies shows the Naloxone antidote will have minimal to no effect on W18.”
FNP is responsible for policing the Cranbrook, Creston, Invermere and Fernie areas.
In April 2015 the FNP officers became aware of the newly forming Opioid drug ‘Fentanyl.’ The FNP officers observed a crisis in the making, as overdose deaths were being reported by the Blood Tribal Police in Southern Alberta, and were also being reported in the Lower Mainland.
To avert a possible crisis within the Ktunaxa First Nations communities, the officers distributed awareness posters ‘Fentanyl, Know Your Source.’ These posters were distributed to each of the four Ktunaxa Bands, and to the Ktunaxa Health Departments.
The FNP members then developed an Education/Awareness presentation that was designed specifically to target First Nations Communities. The presentations were well received by each of the four Ktunaxa Bands. The presentations were delivered in 2015, 2016 and are again scheduled for 2017.
Cranbrook RCMP Detachment has ensured all their officers are aware of the dangers of fentanyl and are trained in the administration of the Naloxone nasal spray.
W-18 was invented at the University of Alberta in the 1980s.
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