Police in Edmonton, Red Deer find increased use of animal tranquilizer in local drug supplies
A powerful tranquilizer used on animals has been found in illicit drugs being used by people in the city, says the Edmonton Police Service.
EPS confirmed to CTV News Edmonton they're seeing the increased use of xylazine — a tranquilizer most often used as a sedative and anesthetic for horses — in the city's drug supply.
Staff Sgt. David Paton of the EPS drug and gang enforcement unit told CTV News Edmonton the current drug supply in the city is being processed using a variety of different cutting agents, including xylazine.
“We’re seeing so many different variants of fentanyl where they’re adding in various adulterants such as xylazine, such as other fentanyl analogues," Paton said. "You never know what you’re going to get.”
RCMP in Red Deer issued a warning on Friday after seeing an increase in emergency calls for drug-related overdoses in the community. They believe the higher number of calls is due to the animal tranquilizer in the drugs people are now using in the central Alberta city.
“With the mixing of illicit drugs, there is an elevated risk involved with accidental overdose, posing extreme risk to human death,” RCMP said Friday in a media release.
While warnings are being issued over the sedative, Marliss Taylor, the director of streetworks and health services at Edmonton's Boyle Street Community Services, says while the practise of mixing xylazine with drugs isn't new, it’s hard to know how much of the tranquilizer is being used without a robust drug checking system.
“Right now, what we have is a cornucopia of drugs that are mixed together and we don’t know what they are or in what quantities,” said Taylor, adding the levels of xylazine found in Edmonton may have been higher in 2019 than they are now.
When benzodiazepines, xylazine and similar drugs are involved, Taylor said street teams are finding it's taking people as long as an hour or more to regain consciousness after their overdoses are reversed with naloxone and they start breathing again.
“You want people to become conscious at the time you reverse their overdose so that they have cognition again, that they are awake and able to talk to you, and you can make sure that they are alright," she said.
Emergency medical services responses to opioid-related calls in Edmonton this year reached a record high of 223 calls in a one-week period at the end of July, but Taylor doesn’t believe xylazine specifically is to blame.
“It is such a dangerous mixture of anything right now in the drug supply,” Taylor said, "Adding xylazine or taking it away probably would not have made any difference in terms of the numbers that we’re seeing.”
CTV News Edmonton reached out to Alberta’s ministry of mental health and addictions for comment, but it had not responded by the time of publication.
Just over 800 Albertans died from drug poisonings in the first five months of 2023, with 96 per cent of those deaths believed to have involved opioids, according to Alberta government data.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Robert Pickton to remain in medically induced coma until later this week: police
Serial killer Robert Pickton will remain in a medically induced coma for at least the next few days following an attack in a Quebec prison Sunday, according to police spokesperson Hugues Beaulieu.
Charlie Colin, founding member of the pop-rock band Train, dies at 58
Charlie Colin, bassist and founding member of the American pop-rock band Train, best known for their early-aughts hits like 'Drops of Jupiter' and 'Meet Virginia,' has died. He was 58.
'Five feet nothing': Pickton's safety likely behind Quebec transfer, says ex-prison judge
When serial killer Robert Pickton was transferred from British Columbia's Kent Institution to a maximum security prison in Quebec about six years ago, correctional authorities gave no public explanation or confirmation at the time, citing privacy.
'I feel betrayed': Ottawa-area customers out thousands of dollars warn of bad faith contractor
A group of people from eastern Ontario and western Quebec is issuing a warning about Dennis Walker and his company Vue Windows.
Fancy pigeon outfitted in custom diaper has free rein in B.C. family home
When Chrissy Chin volunteered to take in a fancy pigeon abandoned on a park bench, she never imagined she would one day be ordering custom-made diapers for the bird – who lives in her house and has become a member of the family.
'We'll need all hands on deck': Details emerge after deadly boat crash near Kingston
Police say they have wrapped up their on-scene investigation into a deadly boat crash in eastern Ontario as details of the incident begin to emerge.
WestJet planning new fare category for travellers willing to forgo carry-on bag
WestJet Airlines plans to launch a new cheaper fare category that would be available to travellers willing to fly without a carry-on bag.
5 dead and at least 35 hurt in Iowa tornado: officials
Five people died and at least 35 were hurt as powerful tornadoes ripped through Iowa Tuesday, with one carving a path of destruction through the town of Greenfield, officials said.
Woman found dead in Lake Ontario in 2017 matches identity of missing person in Switzerland
Genetic genealogy has helped Toronto police identify a woman who was found dead in Lake Ontario in 2017.