According to police, in June 2015 members of the 2 District Street Crime Unit began investigating the sale of Fentanyl patches by a local couple. On July 7th 2015 the male was arrested as he made a drug transaction in a St. Catharines parking lot, where one Fentanyl patch was seized along with a quantity of money.
Detectives applied for and were granted a CDSA search warrant for the couple’s apartment, where an additional 21 Fentanyl patches were seized, along with a quantity of Canadian currency.
In total 22 Fentanyl patches with a possible street value of $7700 were seized, along with a quantity of Canadian currency.
27 year old Justin MELTER is charged with Trafficking a Schedule I Substance, Possession of a Schedule I Substance for the Purpose of Trafficking, and two counts of Possession of Proceeds of Crime Under $5000. MELTER is being held in custody pending a bail hearing on July 8th 2015.
42 Dayna JANZEN is charged with Possession of a Schedule I Substance for the Purpose of Trafficking, and Possession of Proceeds of Crime Under $5000. JANZEN was released from custody with a future court date.
What is Fentanyl? (SOURCE: Wiki)
Fentanyl (also known as fentanil), is a potent, synthetic opioid analgesic with a rapid onset and short duration of action. It is a strong agonist at the μ-opioid receptors. Historically, it has been used to treat breakthrough pain and is commonly used in pre-procedures as a pain reliever as well as ananesthetic in combination with a benzodiazepine.
Fentanyl is approximately 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine and roughly 40 to 50 times more potent than pharmaceutical grade (100% pure) heroin.
Fentanyl was first synthesized by Paul Janssen in 1960 following the medical inception of pethidine several years earlier. Janssen developed fentanyl by assaying analogues of the structurally related drug pethidine for opioid activity. The widespread use of fentanyl triggered the production of fentanyl citrate (the salt formed by combining fentanyl and citric acid in a 1:1 stoichiometry), which entered the clinical practice as a general anaesthetic under the trade name Sublimaze in the 1960s. Following this, many other fentanyl analogues were developed and introduced into medical practice, including sufentanil, alfentanil, remifentanil, and lofentanil.
In the mid-1990s, fentanyl was first introduced for widespread palliative use with the clinical introduction of the Duragesic patch, followed in the next decade by the introduction of the first quick-acting prescription formulations of fentanyl for personal use, the Actiq lollipop and Fentora buccal tablets. Through the delivery method of transdermal patches, as of 2012 fentanyl was the most widely used synthetic opioid in clinical practice, with several new delivery methods now available, including a sublingual spray for cancer patients. In 2013 1700 kilograms were used globally.
Fentanyl and its derivatives are used recreationally. Deaths have resulted from both recreational and improper medical use.
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