Fatal drug overdoses spike in Montreal

Montreal health workers are battling an influx of fatal drug overdoses.

They're warning street drug users to lower their dosesand be extra vigilant.

In the last month, 15 people have died of drug overdoses including six people in the last week alone.

Officialswho are investigating the increase in deathssaid many factors are at play. One of the possible causes could be that the drugs are being 'cut'or dilutedwith fentanyl.

Fentanyl is an anesthetic meant to treat chronic pain. In high concentrationsit could stop a person from breathing.

A derivative of the drug, desmethyl fentanyl, is chemically modified to be even more potent its considered to be 40 times stronger than heroin.

Fentanyl made its first appearance on Montreals black market last spring.

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Health officials said they are warning drug-users to lower their doses and to inject them slowly.

Experts say one of the challenges in preventing overdoses is that most addicts only have one goal finding their next hit.

One case in point is of an individual that is in our facility ... When they went to use the drug, there was a funny colour to it, but they went ahead and injected it regardless, said George Goldberger, the executive director of Foundation Centre ofAddingtonHouse, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre in Montreal.

Goldberger said drug addicts are seldom concerned about their safety.

"The heroin user he's not afraid of dying. He's really not afraid of dying."

Safe injection sites

With the spike in fatal overdoses, Montreal public health officials are calling on the province to approve safe injection sites.

Safe injection sites are really part of the solution. Nurses in the safe injection sites are really aware of overdoses. They can intervene very rapidly, said Richard Mass, director of the Montreal public health agency.

Mass asked the provincial government for four Montreal injection centres last winter, but he said so far he has yet to receive a firm answer.

Mass said the agency is working with the new Liberal government to try to make that happen.