Amid fentanyl crisis, Halifax's 'drug of choice' remains crack

Prescription pill abuseand the opioid fentanylare garnering plenty of attention across the country,but in Halifax, police say cocaine is king and officers see more of it than any other drug that is trafficked illegally.

"Other cities have issues with pills, you could have it with heroin,"said Det. Sgt. Darrell Gaudet, who is in charge of the Halifax Regional Policedrug section.

"Ours ... the drug of choice is crack."

Crack cocaine, which is typically smoked,is created when pure cocaine is mixed with other substances like baking soda or other drugs.

In the last year, the number of people seeking treatment at Halifax-area hospitals or calling for help after getting high on cocaine has more than doubled, saidDr. Nancy Murphy,medical director of the IWK Regional Poison Centre and an emergency physician at theQEIIHealth Sciences Centre.

'We're getting a call every five days'

Hospitals in the city have dealt with about 70 cases of people suffering the side effects of cocaine use this year. The drug can cause seizures, heart attacksand strokes.

"If our numbers are doubling, that just tells me that out in the community I can extrapolate and say there are likely more people using," said Murphy.

"If we're getting a call every five days I can only imagine provincewide how many people are using cocaine."

Three people have gone into cardiac arrestfrom cocaine use in the last five years, said Murphy.

She suspects more cocaine users are showing up in hospital because the purity of cocaine they're being sold is weaker and drug traffickers are mixing other drugs or chemicals into it. Veterinary medicine, amphetamines and fentanyl have showed up in cocaine in other areas.

"Cutting cocaine with other substances is becoming more of an issue and therefore people are presenting to the hospital more often because of that," she said.

9 dead from cocaine overdoses this year

Still, the increase in cocaine use hasn't resulted in an increase in fatal overdoses.

Nova Scotia's medical examiner reported that as of Nov. 28, nine peoplehaddied this yearfromcocaine overdoses. That number may change as the medical examiner closes more cases.

Eleven people died from cocaine overdoses in 2015, with 12 fatalities the year before.Those numbers reflect overdose deaths from across the province.

By comparison, opiates were involved in 49 deaths across the provincethis year, according to Dr. Robert Strang, the province's chief public health officer.

Opiates were involved in the deaths of 44 people in 2015 and 55 deaths in2014.In all those cases, most people had more than one drug in their system.

'Organized crime is always involved'

Gaudet said cocaine and crack cocaine are being used both recreationally and by addicts.

There is a market here for crack cocaine.- Det. Sgt. Darrell Gaudet

He and his police team don't know exactly why cocaine is so widely used in Halifax, but Gaudet suspects it's easier to get than other drugs.

"Organized crime is always involved and they're always looking to any opportunity to bring it in when they can," he said.

"There is a market here for crack cocaine. Where there's a market for illegal drugs ... they're going to find ways to attempt to bring it into the city."