Earlier in March, harm reduction activists and addiction researchers issued warnings over the growing presence of medetomidine in Alberta’s drug supply. Medetomidine is a strong non-opioid sedative mainly used in veterinary medicine, which has been increasingly detected in Alberta’s illicit drug supply, and does not respond to naloxone.

Dr. Monty Ghosh, an addiction medicine specialist, told CBC News that reports of medetomidine detection began emerging in December. “Since then we’ve really been looking at it and we’ve been seeing a stark increase in the amount of medetomidine that we’re seeing in [Alberta’s] drug supply,” he said in his interview with CBC News.

Dr. Ghosh also said medetomidine has recently appeared much more frequently in Alberta’s drug supply and is being detected across multiple monitoring sources, and it is about twice as potent as some other tranquilizers. Moreover, he also explained that naloxone should still be used to treat the opioid part of an overdose, but it does not reverse medetomidine, which has no specific antidote. He advises that if repeated doses don’t work, emergency help should be called, and a very low heart rate may indicate the presence of this sedative.

In addition, Dr. Ghosh also noted that medetomidine is added to prolong the drug’s effects, and because the illicit drug supply changes rapidly, overdose risks and treatment needs are constantly evolving, requiring a range of response tools including naloxone and supervised consumption sites.

An Alberta government spokesperson said in an email statement to CBC that the province is aware of medetomidine in the drug supply, but has reported no deaths linked to it. Meanwhile, overall opioid-related deaths have declined by 39% since 2023, with most areas returning to pre-pandemic levels except Edmonton. Furthermore, an Edmonton Police Service spokesperson told CBC that its drug experts have seen medetomidine in the city, but have not observed a spike in overdose deaths related to the tranquilizer.

In Edmonton, the Spectrum drug testing program provided by the Queer & Trans Health Collective (QTHC), has also reported significant increases in detection of the dangerous sedative in drug samples. “With fentanyl, you give someone Narcan, you wait a few minutes, they revive and you can go on your way,” said Kayla Halliday, QTHC’s harm reduction manager. “With medetomidine in the mix, we are no longer expecting people to wake up because medetomidine doesn’t respond to naloxone.”