Drug alert issued for Waterloo Region for 3rd time in 6 weeks

After four people died and dozens of others suffering overdoses, a community drug alert has been issued for Waterloo Region.

Overdose Monitoring Alert and Response System (OMARS) officials say it is believed the four deaths, which occurred between June 28 and July 4, were drug related.

At the same time, there were also another 41 overdoses/drug poisonings reported.

The consumption and treatment services (CTS) site in Kitchener has a drug-checking program and OMARS says Flubromazolam AKA “Liquid Xanax”, Xylazine, Fentanyl Analogues, Medetomidine/dexmedetomidine and Bromazolam.

The agency notes that the substances it has identified have not been directly linked to the overdoses.

Flubromazolam can result in severe and prolonged sedation, slow breathing, low blood pressure, memory loss, difficulty in following and responding in a conversation, loss of muscle control in arms and legs, sleep paralysis, visual disturbances and heart palpitations.

The warning from OMARS says that the drug remains in the body for a long time and that using it multiple times can cause it to build up in the body which increases the risk of experiencing a drug poisoning.

This is the third time in six weeks that a community drug alert has been issued for Waterloo Region.

OMARS also issued an alert in mid-June after five deaths were reported in five days, and again on May 28 after two people died and 35 overdoses occurred between May 23 and May 26. That alert was extended on June 4 after four more deaths and 50 more overdoses occurred in the following days.