Regina police watching for highly potent 'tranq dope' in local drug seizures
Police in Regina are on the lookout for xylazine, a dangerous animal tranquilizer spreading into Canada’s illegal opioid supply.
Xylazine is a veterinary tranquilizer used in large animals such as horses and is not approved for use in humans.
Known as a “tranq dope” or the “zombie drug” on the street, xylazine is used to prolong the effects of opioids.
There is significant risk for users however. The drug can also lead to extended blackouts and severe abscesses that may require amputation, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control.
Evan Bray, Chief of the Regina Police Service (RPS), told reporters on Tuesday that the drug has yet to be detected in the city.
“I don't believe, at this point it's been a significant issue in our community. But, not to say that it [won't] be,” he said.
“I'm quite confident that we'll hopefully get a bit of a heads up if we started seeing that make its way into our province.”
A total of 161 overdose incidents were reported in Regina in February of 2023.
A recent report from Health Canada revealed that xylazine was identified in 1,350 samples of drugs seized across the country in 2022.
The drug has been identified a total of 2,324 times since record-keeping began in 2015.
A main concern around xylazine is its resistance to Narcan, the opioid overdose treatment.
“It's a bit cliché to say but there is no quality control in the drug world,” Bray explained.
“That's part of the challenge that we see. We saw fentanyl, making a presence known in our community and within months, we had various different derivatives or analogs associated to fentanyl. Some were responsive to the Narcan, some were not. So, that's the problem when you've got synthetic drugs.”
Going forward, Bray said that ongoing partnerships with other law enforcement entities and the medical field will help track the progress of the drug’s spread.
“Those partnerships exist now. We have very strong partnerships with the College of Physicians with pharmacists and lots of different professions that use and are involved in the distribution or prescription of drugs. So that's one whole piece of work that we do as police agencies and I expect that that will continue,” he said.
“You really just have to understand it’s bad for you, potentially lethal for you and we have to do everything we can to limit its effects in the community.”
With files from CTV News’ Megan DeLaire.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Feds 'not interested' in investing in LNG facilities: energy minister
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says the federal government is 'not interested' in subsidizing future liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, including the electrification of projects currently in the works.
Chants of 'shame on you' greet guests arriving for the annual White House correspondents' dinner
An election-year roast of U.S. President Joe Biden before journalists, celebrities and politicians at the annual White House correspondents' dinner Saturday.
Aerial photos show wide devastation left by tornado in China's Guangzhou
Aerial photos posted by Chinese state media on Sunday showed the wide devastation of a part of the southern city of Guangzhou after a tornado swept through the day before, killing five people, injuring dozens others and damaging over a hundred buildings.
Global measles cases nearly doubled in one year, researchers say
The number of measles cases around the world nearly doubled from 2022 to 2023, researchers say, presenting a challenge to efforts to achieve and maintain elimination status in many countries.
Fair share: the right office solution can take finding the right partner
The rise of remote and hybrid work has made it harder to justify a full office, so more are leaning on co-working spaces that they share with many others for convenience and cost savings. The choice, however, comes at the expense of privacy and control.
A top Qatari official urges Israel and Hamas to do more to reach a ceasefire deal
A senior Qatari official has urged both Israel and Hamas to show "more commitment and more seriousness" in ceasefire negotiations in interviews with Israeli media, as pressure builds on both sides to move toward a deal that would set Israeli hostages free and bring potential respite in the nearly seven-month-long war in Gaza.
What Trudeau's podcast appearances say about the Liberals' next ballot box question
Trudeau recently appeared on four podcasts as he travels the country talking up the Liberals' latest budget, which he's pitching as a plan to inject more economic fairness into society for those under 40 — a cohort that has kept Trudeau in power since 2015 but is increasingly turning to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
Russian drones set a hotel ablaze in a Ukrainian Black Sea city
Russian drones early Sunday struck the Black Sea city of Mykolaiv, setting a hotel ablaze and damaging energy infrastructure, the local Ukrainian governor reported, while ammunition shortages continued to hobble Kyiv's troops in the more than two-year-old war.
A munitions explosion at a Cambodian army base kills 20 soldiers, but its cause is unclear
Security was tight around a military base in southwestern Cambodia on Sunday, a day after a huge explosion there killed 20 soldiers, wounded others and damaged nearby houses.