'A real eye-opener': Wastewater testing finds fentanyl and other drugs in Behchokǫ̀, N.W.T.

A wastewater surveillance program in Behchokǫ̀, N.W.T., found a variety of drugs are present in the community, including substances such as fentanyl.

That's causing concern among some leaders in the North Slave community of about 2,000.

Behchokǫ̀ Chief Bertha Rabesca Zoe said the wastewater test results were a “real eye-opener,” about the kinds of drugs present in her community.

In a social media post this week, Rabesca Zoe said the data, collected last September and October, showed the presence of opioids, sedatives, hallucinogens and stimulants in the community's wastewater, including fentanyl and fentanyl analogues.

The testing is part of Health Canada’s National Wastewater Drug Surveillance program, which was launched as a federal response to the illegal drug crisis. Data is reported every three months, and gives an overview of substances found in communities’ wastewater, according to Health Canada.

Rabesca Zoe said she posted her community's results online because she wanted people to know what drugs are present in the community, and the risks they pose.

“Drug dealers are profiting a great deal from ... our people getting addicted to drugs,” she said.

Vivian Yargeau, a chemical engineering professor at McGill University, said wastewater analysis is a valuable tool to inform interventions, direct resources and evaluate public policies.

"Labs can now track a wider range of substances, including emerging drugs and certain synthetic opioids, and produce near real-time indicators to support public health surveillance," she said.

She also underlined the importance of doing these analyses in conjunction with other indicators, including clinical data and field surveys.

"This method [wastewater testing] provides an aggregate picture, and therefore does not allow us to distinguish, for example, whether few people consume a lot, or whether lots of people consume a little,” she said.

'I do worry for our youth'

Rabesca Zoe said her community needs to start taking a closer look at how to address the use of substances in Behchokǫ̀. The community is in the early stages of planning a drug task force, she added.

The task force will need a “community approach,” and while it is not possible to eradicate drug use, it is possible to reduce it, she said.

Monfwi MLA Jane Weyallon Armstrong called the findings “alarming.”

“I do worry for our youth,” she said.

Weyallon Armstrong said the wastewater data confirms that new and dangerous drugs are making their way to small communities in Northwest Territories.

“We heard it was here. But now with the wastewater testing, it is here,” she said.

It means communities need to start planning for how to deal with the presence of various drugs, including fentanyl, Weyallon Armstrong said.

“We don't have a lot of resources," she said. “There are some communities that have no RCMP and no nursing stations. So that is alarming.”

The presence of fentanyl is a “serious concern,” Weyallon Armstrong said, especially since a number drugs are now laced with that substance.

There is a lot of stigma associated with addiction, she said, and it is important that people recognize it is an illness that can be treated.

“If they need help, they can reach out to anybody who’s out there. Even the RCMP are good resources too. There's nurses. There's all kinds of help that's out there. It’s just that they need to reach out to them.”

Hay River, N.W.T., has been struggling with an ongoing drug crisis and a recent rash of overdoses. In November, health authorities said 21 people had overdosed on contaminated drugs in the community in just a few weeks.

Rabesca Zoe said it is “hard to say” if there have been any overdoses related to fentanyl in her community.

“We all know what that can do. Hay River is going through a lot of overdoses. Is that coming to our community soon?” she said. “We need to start planning for that.”