**** NSHA Media Release
#DrugAlert for September 2, 2021
We have received a report from a community partner today that a substance being sold as Xanax Bars in the Halifax Region Municipality, South Shore and Bridgewater to Chester area, may have been contaminated with an unknown opioid. The drug comes in bars and sometimes requires being snapped off like a Kit-Kat bar. The colour varies from white to yellow to green with no packaging. The observed reaction of the drug used has been opioid overdose reversed by naloxone. Highly suspected of containing Meth and Fentanyl.
With the possibility of substance contamination, it’s important to reduce the risk of overdose:
• Don’t use alone, if possible. Keep a distance of 2 meters and respect public health measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 if using substances with others. If you have to use alone, call a trusted support person and let them know you are using alone and provide them with your location.
• Start with a test dose. Start low, go slow.
• Have naloxone available, even if you aren’t intentionally using opioids.
Although naloxone only works to reverse opioid overdoses, there is no harm in administering it if you are unsure what kind of overdose you are witnessing. Naloxone is available for free from most community pharmacies and other community locations, including needle distribution and disposal organizations. For more information about where to get a free naloxone kit and how to use it, visit
http://www.nsnaloxone.com/
• Call 911 in the event of an overdose. Know your rights under the Good Samaritan Act
http://www.nsnaloxone.com/good-samaritan-act.html
