A PEI harm reduction and support group says street opioids are becoming more dangerous as suppliers cut drugs like fentanyl with sedatives.
PEERS Alliance is urging people who use street drugs to test their supply for added sedatives like benzodiazepines (benzo-diaza-peens) and Xylazine (zyla-zeen).
Program director Angele DesRoches says the presence of sedatives often means that treatments to reverse an overdose aren’t as effective, and people who overdose aren’t rebounding in the same way.
Numbers released Wednesday by the province’s Chief Public Health Office show there were seven accidental overdoses between January and March — a slight increase from five deaths in the same period last year.
