Drug checking alert issued in Kamloops

A drug alert has been issued today, Aug. 8, for cocaine being sold with high concentrations of fentanyl in Kamloops.

According to Interior Health, the drug comes with a high overdose risk, and those who do overdose may not fully respond to naloxone.

"Continue to give breaths and seek medical attention if naloxone does not work," reads the alert.

Across B.C. there's been unprecedented overdose activity and unusual drug checking results. 

B.C. paramedics responded to a record-breaking number of overdose calls last month, with Kelowna and Kamloops placing in the top 10 for cities with the highest numbers of calls.

In July, paramedics responded to 2,706 calls, or 87 overdose calls a day, the highest number of monthly overdoses recorded since the overdose crisis was announced in 2016, Shannon Miller with B.C. Emergency Health Services said in an email. The average is usually around 2,000 calls a month.

The highest number of overdoses in the province are in metro cities including Vancouver (739 calls), Surrey (244), Victoria (139) and Kelowna (138). Kamloops also ranked seventh with 89 calls. Penticton and Vernon both reported 36 overdose calls last month.

The largest demographic of callers were men, (65 per cent compared to woman at 34 per cent) and the largest age group were those between the ages of 21 and 40.

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