“We’ve seen people come in looking like they’ve taken an opioid overdose, but they’re really very confident that they’re not using fentanyl and they’re not using opioids. “So he was confused,” he said. “Earlier this week, we had groups of people using this so-called crystal who had symptoms of overdose where they needed to be refreshed.” This led to a preliminary test of the substance and further tests are being carried out, Sereda warned. But even the first results made it clear that something was wrong, he said. “With our preliminary tests, we could not detect crystalline meth in the samples. We detected only opioids with the predominant opioid being fentanyl. “It was such a worrying result, we felt the need to turn off the alarm,” Sereda said. He has heard jokes that a handful of overdoses were fatal. “It is not confirmed by objective information, but the community really cares about itself. So I take stock of what they say. “ Although the city’s top doctor said the health unit spotted a slight increase in emergency overdose-related emergency visits in the middle of the week, it was details leaked by drug users and street addiction workers that prompted the public warning. “The drug community in London deserves commendation for locating this deadly batch so quickly for themselves and their peers,” said Alex Summers, chief health officer, on Friday. Serenda agreed. “It simply came to our notice then. It was the community that made us realize that this was a widespread issue. “ The health unit urges users of crystalline methamphetamine in the city not to use the drug alone, not to have a Naloxone kit or to visit Carepoint, the city’s supervised drug store at 186 King. Crystal Meth is a white, crystalline drug made in secret laboratories from toxic or flammable ingredients. The stimulant, which belongs to the methamphetamine family of drugs, can be inhaled, smoked, or injected. Fentanyl is a super-potent opioid that is 100 times more potent than morphine. Opioid powder can be made illegally in laboratories that have not taken steps to control the dosage of the potentially deadly drug. Illegal fentanyl has been a major factor in a number of deadly drug overdoses across the country and across southwestern Ontario, resulting in criminal convictions against some who sold it to unsuspecting users.
