Be careful, folks.
Health Canada has just released a warning about using fentanyl-detection strips to determine whether or not your drugs contain the fatal substance: they don’t always work.
“False sense of security”
According to the advisory issued on Wednesday, a preliminary study conducted by the agency came to the conclusion that fentanyl-detection test strips can sometimes lead to a false negative.
This means the test fails to detect fentanyl in the drug sample, lulling users into a false sense of security while consuming the substance.
These test strips therefore pose a huge risk particularly to drug users who consume alone, as the risk of overdose and death is much higher.
“Some individuals and organizations are using test strips to detect fentanyl by dissolving a small amount of drugs in a solution,” explains the advisory.
“These test strips have not been designed for direct use by consumers in this way, which could lead to false negative results.”
Fentanyl-related deaths are on the rise
Despite authorities working day and night to crack down on dealers selling drugs laced with fentanyl, the fatal substance has been causing more and more deaths in British Columbia.
According to new data released by the BC Coroners Service, overdose deaths in the province have nearly doubled compared to last year, with most of them occurring in Vancouver, Surrey, and Victoria.
Fentanyl has been detected in 83 per cent of these overdose cases.
