After all, no fentanyl was found in cannabis, say Vermont police

In the latest chapter of an ongoing pattern, a fentanyl-laced cannabis fear in Vermont proved a false positive. Two cases of cannabis suspected of having fentanyl spiked in the state were cleared of the drug by a lab weeks later after first causing a false positive for the drug.

“Fentanyl-fortified marijuana blamed for overdose in Vermont,” local broadcaster WCAX reported on November 21. The Brattleboro Police Department (BPD) told the media that they resuscitated a patient with CPR and multiple doses of Narcan – the opioid overdose antidote naloxone – cannabis reportedly tested positive for fentanyl. The person told police they were not taking any opioids – only cannabis.

The news quickly became national. Police ransacked an apartment in Brattleboro on November 30 and said they had found several containers of cannabis suspected to be fentanyl, the Brattleboro reformer reported. Three people in Brattleboro were arrested in connection with the crime, US News reported on Dec. 2.

The cannabis was sent to a laboratory to confirm the presence of the drug, police said. However, it turned out that both samples from the two incidents did not contain fentanyl. “The marijuana seized in both incidents was taken to a forensic laboratory where tests were carried out,” Brattleboro police said in a statement. “BPD has been notified that no fentanyl has been found in any marijuana.”

“BPD stands by its earlier public safety notice that it is advisable for marijuana users to know the source and history of the marijuana they are using,” the department added. Vermont legalized recreational marijuana for adults ages 21 and up in 2018, and the topic is often a headline news item.

The same thing happened in New York state a year ago when officials said they found the drug in cannabis and discovered a week later that it wasn’t. “No non-pharmaceutical fentanyl was found mixed with cannabis in New York City,” the city health department clarified. The New York State Department of Health also clarified that “it’s unlikely to be in grass”.

Harvard-trained Peter Grinspoon, MD, is an internist and medical cannabis specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and a lecturer at Harvard Medical School. He is the author of books such as Free Refills: A Doctor Confronts His Addiction and the son of cannabis activist Dr. Lester Grinspoon.

When unconfirmed traces of fentanyl-tipped cannabis emerge, “it creates fear,” said Dr. High Times Grinspoon. “Whenever there is incredible information about drugs – especially cannabis – it becomes much more difficult for public health officials to obtain credible information. It’s like The Boy Who Cried Wolf – like the DARE program. They said cannabis did this, this, this and that and teenagers didn’t believe it because it was against their life experience. It disqualified their other messages about drugs that are actually more dangerous – like heroin or alcohol. It only discredits the ‘official’ sources of information. ”

“It also confuses people when they receive conflicting messages,” said Dr. Grinspoon. Dr. Grinspoon added that giving Narcan to a non-opioid user would not be dangerous.

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One factor is profitability – whether it makes financial sense for a drug dealer to spray cannabis with fentanyl. In addition, it would be extremely wasteful for a drug user to consume the drug in this way.

“The story is bizarre anyway because it’s unclear whether you can consume fentanyl this way – through smoking,” said Dr. Grinspoon. “Some drugs that you can smoke, like cocaine, are free-based as crack. However, fentanyl tends to disintegrate from around 500 degrees [F], and it completely disintegrates at around 1000 degrees. If you smoke, speak of 2,000 degrees. ”

He did not completely rule out the credibility of these stories. “Maybe you can record some of this,” he said. “But it’s not really an obvious way to take fentanyl.” However, fentanyl is readily available on the street and is often – and dangerously – misnamed as other opioids.

“At the same time, fentanyl is popping up in all kinds of places where it’s never been seen before – about two-thirds of the pills people buy on the street,” said Dr. Grinspoon. “Oxycodone, Vicodin, now contain fentanyl, which is really awful. Many patients test positive for fentanyl and are not taking an opiate. Then it turns out that they are using cocaine and that is where the fentanyl comes from. So it’s true that fentanyl is everywhere, which is terrible and dangerous. ”

Taking any kind of opioid off the street is literally a roll of the dice, with the sheer prevalence of fentanyl.

“Given that fentanyl can be found practically everywhere else, it’s not difficult to imagine it in cannabis – but at the same time it just doesn’t make sense,” said Dr. Grinspoon. “Cannabis users are not interested in fentanyl per se. It has always been an urban myth. It’s not impossible, but it usually turns out to be an urban myth. ”

In another incident in Connecticut, a state-wide rash from overdose could be linked to fentanyl-infused cannabis since July; a recent overdose in Plymouth is the first laboratory-confirmed case of fentanyl mixed with cannabis ever found in Connecticut “and possibly across the country,” the state health commissioner said. This case is still developing.