A \u201chighly potent\u201d synthetic opioid has been detected in Halton Region\u2019s unregulated drug supply, according to the local health unit. <\/p>\n
On Friday, Halton Region Public Health<\/a> alerted local healthcare providers and residents that nitazene has been detected. This powerful synthetic opioid can be more toxic than fentanyl, Health Canada warns<\/a>, and tends to be mixed with other substances, which increases the risk of poisoning. <\/p>\n The local health unit says overdoses may be more challenging to reverse, as, oftentimes, they require repeated doses of naloxone and longer monitoring. <\/p>\n \u201cOpioids are a class of drugs that can cause life-threatening overdoses, especially when used outside of their prescribed or recommended amounts,\u201d Dr. Patrick Galange, Halton Region Associate Medical Officer of Health, said in a release. <\/p>\n Galange said it is \u201cextremely concerning\u201d that this counterfeit opioid has been detected in the region. <\/p>\n \u201cAnyone who uses opioids, along with their family and friends, should carry naloxone, know the early signs of an overdose and call 9-1-1 immediately if they suspect one,\u201d Galange said, adding that opioids should only be taken as prescribed by healthcare providers. <\/p>\n Naloxone kits can be picked up at a local clinic or at Halton Region Harm Reduction Services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A \u201chighly potent\u201d synthetic opioid has been detected in Halton Region\u2019s unregulated drug supply, according to the local…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":586415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[10787,103,61,60,371],"class_list":["post-586414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-apple-news","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-medication"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}