‘The zombie drug’: Health Canada finds more animal tranquillizer in illicit drugs – CTV
March 27, 2025
A potent animal tranquilizer is making its way into Canadian street drugs at an exponential rate.
Medetomidine is used to sedate animals and is only approved for veterinary use.
Health Canada first detected the animal sedative in the illicit drug market in 2022 in Brantford, Ontario.
The following year, in 2023, Health Canada identified 158 cases of medetomidine.
Last year, the number surged to 1,227 occurrences, Health Canada told CTV News in an email.
Before Christmas, RCMP issued a warning about medetomidine after it was found mixed with fentanyl in St. John’s, NL — calling it “an extremely lethal combination.”
Amid Saskatoon’s fentanyl overdose crisis, the city’s safe consumption site, Prairie Harm Reduction (PHR), is on high alert for the animal sedative.
“They call it ‘the zombie drug,‘” PHR Executive Director Kayla DeMong said.
“It creates an extra level of overdose response because it doesn’t respond to naloxone.”
