VANCOUVER — Health officials in British Columbia are raising the alarm after a powerful veterinary sedative was detected in the illicit drug supply, triggering what frontline workers are calling some of the most disturbing overdose scenes they’ve ever encountered.
In Trail, B.C., outreach and emergency responders reported finding dozens of people unconscious each night over the weekend, many exposed to extreme cold and suffering memory loss after overdosing. According to Dr. Karin Goodison, a medical health officer with Interior Health, workers described the situation as unprecedented.
“These are people who’ve worked on the front lines for years,” Goodison said. “They are saying they have never seen anything like this before.”
Health officials believe the overdoses are linked to medetomidine, a veterinary sedative newly identified in the unregulated drug supply. The B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) issued a rare provincewide drug alert earlier this week after detecting the substance mixed with opioids such as fentanyl.
BC Emergency Health Services confirmed paramedics responded to 256 overdose calls in a single day on Jan. 21, the highest number recorded in the province to date. While the agency did not confirm how many were fatal, health leaders say the scale alone is deeply concerning.
Medetomidine can cause dangerously low heart rates, unpredictable blood pressure changes, and prolonged sedation. Unlike opioid overdoses, there is currently no medication that reverses its effects, leaving first responders with limited options beyond supportive care.
Dr. Alexis Crabtree, medical lead for harm reduction and substance use services at the BCCDC, said the drug has become far more widespread than previously seen.
“In November, medetomidine showed up in 38 per cent of opioid samples tested across the province,” Crabtree said. “In Fraser Health, it was detected in more than half of the samples. That’s a dramatic shift.”
The sedative has also been reported in Ontario and parts of the United States, suggesting a broader trend in the illicit drug market. While the exact reason for its growing use is unclear, experts believe it may extend the effects of fentanyl or reduce production costs for traffickers.
Victoria Police reported responding to 15 non-fatal overdoses in a 24-hour period this week alone, all believed to be linked to medetomidine.
Crabtree said the emergence of the drug highlights the increasing unpredictability of the street supply.
“People are being exposed to an increasingly complex and dangerous mix of substances,” she said. “Keeping up with these changes is one of the biggest challenges in harm reduction right now.”
While overdose deaths in B.C. have declined since reaching a peak in 2023, health officials caution that sudden spikes like this one show how fragile that progress can be.
Public health authorities continue to urge people who use substances not to use alone, to access drug checking services where available, and to seek medical help immediately if someone becomes unresponsive.
