Animal tranquilizer detected in Winnipeg street drugs

An animal tranquilizer has been found in the drug supply on Winnipeg streets, a public alert says.

Street Connections, a mobile public-health program and harm-reduction service operating under the Winnipeg Health Authority, issued a March 3 drug alert to warn the veterinary tranquilizer medetomidine has been detected in the city.

A pill that tested positive for medetomidine was seized by police. It was a white tablet with the markings TEC and was tested through Health Canada’s drug-testing service Feb. 13. The tranquilizer is intended only for animals, and since it is not an opioid, the effects of overdoses caused by medetomidine can’t be reversed with naloxone, Street Connections has warned.

A previous public-health alert in February warned the drug’s presence had been confirmed in Winnipeg at various concentrations, usually mixed with fentanyl. The tranquilizer causes sedation, along with a severe and rapid reduction in heart rate, the alert states.