A sedative intended for large animals is believed to be the cause of a recent increase of opioid-related emergencies, specifically to the Edmonton region.
According to the Canadian Center of Recover Excellence (CoRE) carfentanil can be up to 100,000 times stronger than morphine and 100 times stronger than fentanyl, with microgram-level amounts causing life-threatening overdoses.
Rob Tanguay, senior medical lead of compassionate intervention at Recovery Alberta, says many drug users become highly tolerant to drugs, including fentanyl, and need stronger substances to get a high.
“The reality is, for a drug user who happens to be highly tolerant shifting to a more potent drug creates a sense of euphoria or high they couldn’t get before and it’s something that people will seek out.”
During the week of Aug. 25, Emergency Health Services in Alberta responded to 321 opioid-related events, which was a 39 per cent increase from the previous week, and Edmonton accounted for 73 per cent of those calls.
While EHS numbers can vary and more calls don’t necessarily indicate more deaths, Recovery Alberta is concerned about carfentanil’s growing presence in opioid-related deaths.
From January to May of this year, 68 per cent of opioid deaths in Alberta involved carfentanil, which is a 10 per cent increase from last year.
However, in Edmonton the number of deaths involving carfentanil jumped from 17 per cent to 78 per cent.
There have not been any reported deaths from opioid overdoses involving carfentanil in Lethbridge since 2023. However, Tanguay says that doesn’t mean it has not already made it into the drug supply here.
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“We’re worried what’s happening in Edmonton is (carfentanil) is replacing fentanyl and that’s extremely scary.
“Just because we don’t see it today in Lethbridge doesn’t mean it’s not there today and won’t be affecting us tomorrow.”
Naloxone can help during an opioid overdose involving carfentanil, but multiple doses may be needed to reverse its effects.
Opioid agonist treatment (OAT), such as Suboxone and methadone remain the standard approach and there are no carfentanil-specific treatments.
Recovery Alberta continues to expand OAT, which helps stabilize people, reduce cravings and prevent overdose.
Tanguay adds that OAT is a major part of the Compassionate Intervention Act, to help those who are suffering addiction to get the help they need.
“We will be doing it with peers and people with lived experience, we will be doing it with a medical approach, which will include medications, and we will be doing it with as much evidence-informed processes as possible.”
As part of this effort, advanced care paramedics in EHS’s Mobile Integrated Healthcare Program can give first-line OAT medication right in the community. Communities with Mobile Integrated Healthcare include Lethbridge, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, Edmonton, Camrose, Peace River and Calgary.
An emergency response team is currently in place to monitor clients in and around Hope Mission’s Herb Jamieson Centre in Edmonton. The team of primary care paramedics, nurses and health care aides are responding to mental health and addiction crises including overdoses.
Tanguay encourages everyone to carry Naloxone kits and to have compassion toward the vulnerable population.
“People don’t choose to live homeless, people don’t choose to live in poverty, people don’t choose to live suffering with addiction, but we as a society have chosen to allow it and that has to stop.”
© 2025 Lethbridge Herald
