Most heroin tested in Canada is contaminated with fentanyl

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Most heroin tested in Canada is contaminated with fentanyl

24 November 2017

By Tamara Khandaker

The amount of street heroin testing positive for the deadly opiate fentanyl has skyrocketed over the past five years, according to tests of thousands of samples conducted by Canada’s health regulator. In 2017, 4,568 samples of street drugs seized by law enforcement tested positive for fentanyl, mostly in British Columbia, followed by Ontario, according to Health Canada’s Drug Analysis Service data provided to VICE News. In 2012, just 217 samples tested positive across the country, meaning the amount of drugs cut with fentanyl has increased more than 20-fold. Heroin has seen the biggest jump, with 60 percent of samples in 2017 testing positive for fentanyl or similar chemicals, compared to less than one percent five years ago. Fentanyl was also found in 1.8 percent of cocaine samples and 1.7 percent of meth samples tested this year.

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