By THE ALASKA STORY
British Columbia officials issued a province-wide public alert after a sharp and unprecedented spike in toxic drug poisonings, warning that unregulated drugs contaminated with the veterinary drug medetomidine are the most likely cause.
During the week of Jan. 16 to Jan. 22, BC paramedics responded to more than 1,100 drug-poisoning calls across the province, a surge that culminated in 256 calls on Jan. 21 alone, setting a new single-day record.
The previous record had been 222 calls on Nov. 19, 2025, another surge that officials now also believe was driven by contamination involving medetomidine.
Health officials described the contamination as especially dangerous because medetomidine is not an opioid, meaning standard overdose responses that include naloxone are less effective or not effective at all, and overdoses require additional medical intervention. Medetomidine is a veterinary sedative, not approved for human use, and its presence in the illicit drug supply significantly increases the risk of respiratory failure, unconsciousness, and death.
“This represents a highly unstable and dangerous drug supply,” provincial health officials said in the alert, urging users and frontline responders to exercise extreme caution and to seek immediate medical help for any suspected poisoning.
One thought on “British Columbia issues rare province-wide alert after spike in drug poisonings linked to medetomidine”
Now that the largest drug terrorist from Canada has been busted by the FBI in a Mexican sting operation, Canada should expect new players to emerge in the drug trade. And different types of drugs. This is part of the deal for Canada, when you support open borders to the south…….in the US.