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Observational Study
. 2018 Apr 1:185:322-327.
doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2017.12.032. Epub 2018 Feb 20.

Fentanyl and heroin contained in seized illicit drugs and overdose-related deaths in British Columbia, Canada: An observational analysis

Nicholas Baldwin  1 , Roger Gray  2 , Anirudh Goel  3 , Evan Wood  4 , Jane A Buxton  5 , Launette Marie Rieb  6
Affiliations
Observational Study

Fentanyl and heroin contained in seized illicit drugs and overdose-related deaths in British Columbia, Canada: An observational analysis

Nicholas Baldwin et al. Drug Alcohol Depend. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Background: Due to the alarming rise in opioid-related overdose deaths, a public health emergency was declared in British Columbia (BC). In this study, we examined the relationship between illicit fentanyl and heroin found in seized drugs and illicit overdose deaths in BC.

Methods: An observational cross-sectional survey was conducted using BC data from Health Canada's Drug Analysis Service, which analyzes drug samples seized by law enforcement agencies, and non-intentional illicit overdoses from the BC Coroner's Service, from 2000 to 2016. Initial scatter plots and subsequent multivariate regression analysis were performed to describe the potential relationship between seized illicit fentanyl samples and overdose deaths and to determine if this differed from seized heroin and overdose deaths. Fentanyl samples were analyzed for other drug content.

Results: Fentanyl is increasingly being found combined with other opioid and non-opioid illicit drugs. Strong positive relationships were found between the number of seized fentanyl samples and total overdose deaths (R2 = 0.97) as well as between seized fentanyl and fentanyl-detected overdose deaths (R2 = 0.99). A positive association was found between the number of seized heroin samples and total overdose deaths (R2 = 0.78).

Conclusion: This research contributes to the expanding body of evidence implicating illicit fentanyl use (often combined with heroin or other substances) in overdose deaths in BC. Policy makers and healthcare providers are urged to implement drug treatment and harm reduction strategies for people at risk of overdose associated with current trends in illicit opioid use.

Keywords: Drug overdose; Fentanyl; Heroin; Law enforcement; Opioid-related disorders; Substance-related disorders.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Illicit drug seizures tested and containing heroin and fentanyl in British Columbia from 2006–2016. * Data obtained from the Health Canada Drug Analysis Service. Circle = Fentanyl, square = heroin.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Overall and fentanyl-detected illicit drug overdose deaths in British Columbia from 2012–2016. *Data obtained from the BC Coroner’s Service. Circle = fentanyl-detected, square = overall
Figure 3
Figure 3
Overall illicit drug overdose deaths and fentanyl-detected seized exhibits per 100,000 population
Figure 4
Figure 4
Overall illicit drug overdose deaths and heroin-detected seized exhibits
Figure 5
Figure 5
Fentanyl-detected illicit drug overdose deaths and fentanyl-detected seized drug exhibits per 100,000 population
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. British Columbia Government, Office of the Surgeon General. B.C. Coroners Service warns of deaths related to illicit fentanyl use. 2014 Accessed at: https://news.gov.bc.ca/06336.
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    1. B.C. Coroner’s Service. Illicit drug overdose deaths in B.C. January 1, 2007 – March 31 2017. Victoria: British Columbia Coroner’s Service; 2017a.
    1. B.C. Coroner’s Service. Fentanyl-detected illicit drug overdose deaths January 1, 2012 – February 28, 2017. Victoria: British Columbia Coroner’s Service; 2017b.

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