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Police are dealing with a methamphetamine fire in the Prairies that is rapidly outpacing fentanyl as a drug of choice for many.
Opioid use continues to be a public health crisis with just under 4,000 deaths in Canada in 2017 and more than 3,000 in 2016.
However, officers from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta are concerned about methamphetamine as a narcotic of choice.
"The problem of methamphetamine is happening in the Prairies, and they are finding that the use of opioids is now being replaced by methamphetamine," said Lethbridge Police Chief Rob Davis.
"What I heard anecdotally, is that so many people were dying of fake fentanyl and that there is a perception that methamphetamine is safer – it is still dangerous, but more safe."
Methamphetamine, followed by heroin and fentanyl, is the main drug consumed at the Lethbridge supervised consumption site. Davis recently saw people leave the site.
"There were some that looked like Time-Life commercials for 60's songs, in which everybody dances their interpretative dance, and then I look at people who just had that rage walk, just walking down the street with all this anger. "
Lethbridge Police Chief Rob Davis says some people think methamphetamine is safer than fentanyl. (Lucie Edwardson / CBC)
The situation in Saskatoon is not better.
"It's an epidemic. I think we have reached this stage, "said the Detective Sergeant. Robin Wintermute of the police's anti-drug team.
"When I talked to my cohorts in Prince Albert and Regina, things are the same in their city. It's relatively cheap compared to cocaine, so it's consistent with break-ins in small thefts, mail fraud, stolen vehicles, and so on.
According to Wintermute, a tenth of a gram of methamphetamine costs between $ 5 and $ 10, while a single shot of fentanyl costs between $ 40 and $ 60.
Edmonton police have also seen a dramatic increase in methamphetamine use. Seizures of the drug went from 9,017 grams in 2013 to 33,112 grams in 2017. Just under 30,000 grams have been seized so far this year.
"The trend is certainly going up," said Sgt. Guy Pilon, coordinator of a clandestine laboratory at the Organized Crime Division of Edmonton. "There is no shortage of methamphetamine on the street, but what we're seeing is a kind of anomaly because there's really cheap methamphetamine that's sold out there, almost half the price. of the normal substance "
Pilon added that the use of speed balls had also increased: users were taking fentanyl until the moment they were getting ready to doze, then using methamphetamine as a stimulant.
Many resellers offer customers a wide range of drugs instead of focusing on just one type of narcotic, he added.
"Now, drug traffickers are selling more than a horn of drug addiction to serve a larger clientele."
Winnipeg Police Chief Danny Smyth said the skyrocketing use of methamphetamine was creating a crisis for the police, health services and drug treatment centers.
In a West Broadway reception center in Winnipeg, many people who use sleeping mats are addicted to methamphetamine. They stay up all night on the streets and then need a safe place to sleep during the day. (Holly Caruk / CBC)
Figures from health authorities in Winnipeg show that there was a 1,200% increase in the number of people hospitalized for methamphetamine – 218 methamphetamine visits in April 2018 compared to 12 in April 2013.
Agent safety is also a concern. Where opioid users tend to be docile, methamphetamine users are more unpredictable.
"That's the problem, is not it? Some of them have been in place for days. It's a devastating drug for the body and they're not usually easy to handle when they take this medicine, "said Wintermute.
"They will use it all day or over a period of days to keep that level … so it's a crash.
"They have to feed this addiction."
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