Brandon overdoses linked to ‘purple heroin’

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This article was published 23/07/2019 (2281 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A mix of potent painkillers being sold in Manitoba as “purple heroin” has police warning about the risk of overdose death.

The concoction sent two people to hospital Monday night in Brandon, after it was consumed along with methamphetamine.

A 24-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman were treated after they overdosed on a mix of three types of opioids and meth. There was no heroin in the mixture, police said Tuesday.

The pair had purchased meth, along with “purple heroin,” prior to being found unresponsive in a home’s bathroom around 11 p.m., officials said.

Brandon Police Service spokeswoman Sgt. Kirby Sararas said the incident marks the first time local police have confirmed there is a substance being sold as “purple heroin.”

“This isn’t common here in Brandon,” she said.

In some other places in Canada, though, the purple powder typically contains heroin mixed with fentanyl or another opioid. It’s usually smoked or heated and injected.

There’s a “high potential” for a fatal overdose, said Winnipeg Police Service Insp. Max Waddell of the organized crime unit, who confirmed WPS has seized purple heroin within the last year.

“The concoction of this is so volatile and so unpredictable,” Waddell said. He said the purple, chunky powder is sometimes called “purp,” “purple H,” or “purple nerds,” after the candy.

It’s a stimulant and a depressant, which makes for a euphoric high and a “very addictive” combination, he said. “That’s what’s driving the demand.”

Meth is an overwhelmingly larger problem in Manitoba than purple heroin, Waddell said, but the latter is more volatile. It’s also more expensive than meth, at roughly $30 to $50 for one-10th of a gram.

At the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba, staff encountered purple heroin about a year ago, and it’s becoming more popular.

Over the past four months, AFM medical director Dr. Ginette Poulin said she has been hearing about the drug daily. At least one or two patients per day say they’re addicted to it. It’s easier to get a hold of than pure fentanyl.

“Purple H is definitely more common on the streets,” Poulin said. She’s urging users not to use the drug alone and to have a naloxone kit handy to counter a potential overdose.

The two Brandon residents who overdosed had fentanyl, butyrylfentanyl, carfentanil and methamphetamine in their systems, according to a news release Tuesday from the BPS.

The purple mixture is believed to have been shipped into Manitoba, but Brandon police can’t say for sure how it got here, Sararas said. They’re still investigating the drug’s source.

“It’s very concerning,” Sararas said. “Fentanyl and carfentanil are meant to be used by doctors in a controlled setting for a very specific purpose.”

When sold on the street, she said: “You have no idea what you’re getting.”

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca