A new opioid has been found in Toronto’s drug supply and users may not even know it’s there
A new opioid has been found in Toronto’s unregulated drug supply, and users may not even know they’re taking it, according to a new report.
Toronto’s Drug Checking Service said in a last week’s report A new opioid, known as cyclomorphine, was found in three counterfeit pharmaceutical opioid samples collected from the city’s downtown core and west end between October 25 and 28.
One of the samples was expected to be hydromorphone, Dilaudid, the second was expected to be oxycodone, OxyContin, and the third was expected to be Percocet. But reports said none contained their expected drug – only cyclomorphine.
Karen Macdonald, executive director of Toronto’s drug checking service, said people using opioids don’t even know it.
“There appears to be an emerging trend where it (cyclomorphine) is being presented as a counterfeit pharmaceutical opioid that people are not expecting,” he told CBC on Tuesday.
Toronto’s Drug Checking Service said cyclomorphine is a synthetic opioid with unknown strength and effects. Other related opioids are considered to be as strong as fentanyl.
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada report, opioid death rates in 2024 are expected to decrease by 17 per cent from 2023. However, the numbers remain high. DJ Larkin, executive director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, says preserving supervised consumption sites and addressing underlying social factors is key to maintaining the decline.
The risk of overdose may vary depending on the strength of cyclosporine and how much of it is used, the report said.
So far, none of the samples have been linked to an overdose, McDonald said.
Cyclomorphine was first detected in a Percocet sample expected on Sept. 12, but Health Canada had previously detected it in drug samples seized from law enforcement in Ontario, McDonald said.
McDonald said she wants to bring awareness that the new drug exists and is available in Toronto.
He said, “Our main goal right now is to educate people about what we know about this drug and also to let people know what it is and what it is in circulation at the time. If you were using those specific pharmaceutical opioids, chances are that this opioid could be in that drug.”
The Drug Testing Service said naloxone should reverse the effects of cyclomorphine and other such opioids in the event of an overdose.
Last year, more than 2,200 Ontarians died from opioids, a 15 per cent decline from 2023. according to statistics From the Office of the Chief Coroner.
The opioid overdose death rate in 2024 was 14.3 deaths per 100,000 people. The data shows that fentanyl and its related substances were found in more than 83 percent of opioid poisoning deaths, while stimulants were found in 69 percent of deaths.
