{"id":9363,"date":"2018-05-04T11:00:53","date_gmt":"2018-05-04T15:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=9363"},"modified":"2025-09-30T11:44:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T15:44:15","slug":"preventing-opioid-overdose","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/preventing-opioid-overdose\/","title":{"rendered":"Saving Lives from Opioid Overdose"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Saving Lives from Opioid Overdose\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

On October 4, 2017, the Ottawa Police Service issued a warning<\/a> about the presence of the potentially deadly opioid fentanyl and the even more potent fentanyl analog carfentanil in street drugs believed to be heroin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drug samples \u2014 which turned out to contain no heroin \u2014 were seized by officers that July 31 and Aug. 1, but police and public health officials had to wait two months for Health Canada\u2019s test results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Carfentanil mixed with other controlled substances https:\/\/t.co\/PpiwJwKaXT<\/a> Please visit https:\/\/t.co\/yuXLKSIu6N<\/a> #ottnews<\/a><\/p>

\u2014 Ottawa Police (@OttawaPolice) October 4, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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That long lag, and the heightened risk of overdoses and deaths among users exposed to tainted drugs amid North America\u2019s unprecedented opioid crisis, are the target of a groundbreaking partnership between researchers at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa that is piloting the use of a portable mass spectrometer to test drug samples at the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre<\/a> (SHCHC) supervised injection site<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The 22-pound bread maker-sized machine, the first of its kind, can provide the precise \u201cchemical signature\u201d of a substance based on the mass of its constituent molecules, in less than 20 seconds.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In other words, it can rapidly reveal exactly what is in a drug from a trace sample no larger than a single drop of liquid. And nobody else in the world is using this technology in this way.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Preventing opioid overdoses before they happen<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Clients who come to the injection site just off Rideau Street will be asked if they want their drugs checked before<\/em> they use \u2014 and will told exactly what\u2019s in their syringe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If it contains fentanyl or carfentanil, or another dangerous substance, including slightly modified opioid analogues, this information could convince them not to shoot up or prompt health centre staff to be on standby with naloxone for a potential overdose. And if testing exposes a pattern of bad drugs circulating through the city, officials can quickly distribute a widespread alert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n