N.W.T. averaging 1 fentanyl related death per year, study finds

There have been five fentanyl-related deaths in the Northwest Territories in the past five years, according to a study by the N.W.T's coroner's office released Tuesday.

The study, published in collaboration with the Office of the N.W.T.'s Chief Public Health Officer, reviewed narcotic related hospital visits and deaths in the territory from 2009 to 2014. 

It found that 27 people died from narcotic use in the N.W.T during that time. Four of those deaths — all between 2011 and 2014 — were from fentanyl use. A fifth person died from fentanyl use in 2015.

During the period covered by the study, the Northwest Territories had the highest rate of fentanyl-related deaths per capita in Canada.

In two of those deaths, fentanyl overdose was the primary cause of death. In two other deaths, the people died of a fatal mix of alcohol and drugs, including fentanyl.

The majority of fentanyl-related deaths in the N.W.T happened before the spike of fentanyl overdoses in Canada that made headlines in mid-2015, which means the drug was being used — and killing people — in the North years before the majority of the public knew it existed.

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"I'd go back to 2011, when we started being informed about the presence and started small seizures in the Northwest Territories," Sgt. Alex Laporte told the CBC on Tuesday. Laporte works for the RCMP's federal crimes unit and often works undercover.

"The quality of the pills, they're not controlled. They're made in clandestine labs by some chemist. The quality control isn't there.

"We saw it in our analysis of the pills in the last year. One pill was very weak, another was quite strong. From a user perspective, you don't get the buzz from one pill, you take another one — and sure enough, your life is at risk."

Several large, high profile drug busts in the Northwest Territories in recent years show that fentanyl is being brought in by organized crime organizations. Laporte says the influx hasn't slowed down.

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"Organized crime, they're into it for-profit here, as they are in big cities. The demand was here and it grew into our last project here and into 2016 where we saw those major seizures."

High number of female deaths

The study also found that of the 27 people who died narcotic related deaths, 63 per cent were female. Chief Public Health Officer Andre Corriveau says he found that surprising.

"It could be that they're more infrequent users. The risks of accidental overdose is higher if you're a new user, you don't know how to dose yourself as well," Corriveau said during a press conference Tuesday.

"Especially if you have a street drug where the concentration of a pill might not be as standard as it would be from a prescription source. We hear that illegal labs, when they produce their medications, they don't have the best mixers.

"You could have a pill with twice the amount of the next one. People don't always know what they're taking."

There were 663 emergency room visits for unintentional narcotics poisoning in the N.W.T. from 2009 to 2014.