St. Anthony RCMP is warning the public of a dangerous narcotic that was seized by police in late December 2023 following an overdose death in the community.

As part of the sudden death investigation, police seized a small quantity of tablets and sent them to Health Canada’s Drug Analysis Service.  The results recently received confirmed that the substance is an extremely potent synthetic opioid, categorized as a Nitazine, and is approximately 20 times more potent than Fentanyl.  Synthetic opioids cause heavy sedation and severely depress the respiratory system, leading to death.

The deceased is believed to have purchased the substance online, advertised as Morphine.  The investigation into the origin of the substance is continuing.

RCMP NL cautions those who purchase illegal substances online of the dangers in doing so.  Oftentimes, products can be advertised as being a certain substance when in fact they are not.  Illicit drug manufacturers will often defer to producing the most cost-effective substance and market it as something else, without the consideration of its effects on the user.

Many illegal drugs get cut with different substances by drug traffickers.  Plan and prepare for opioid overdose by carrying a Naloxone kit. Please call 811 to find your nearest location for a free naloxone kit or visit https://www.gov.nl.ca/hcs/naloxonekits/.