Inmate uses fentanyl in jail
Correctional centre incident follows week with eight overdoses in Yellowknife
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Friday, December 2, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
An inmate at North Slave Correctional Centre was found under the influence of fentanyl Tuesday evening, corrections officials have confirmed.
The inmate did not overdose and was placed under immediate supervision, according to Blair VanMetre, assistant director of facility operations for the Department of Justice.
"Whenever indications of drug use is found in the facility, a search of cells takes place," VanMetre stated in an e-mail to Yellowknifer on Wednesday.
The jailhouse fentanyl case follows a busy week in Yellowknife when health officials reported eight fentanyl overdoses at Stanton Territorial Hospital within a 48-hour period.
A house on Borden Drive was searched by RCMP investigators in hazmat suits Saturday, who determined a substance found there was furanyl fentanyl - a less potent but still dangerous form of the drug.
Parts of the jail were secured to carry out a search for the drug but none was found, said VanMetre, adding "appropriate safeguards are in place during any search for contraband."
There is no information yet on how the inmate got a hold of the drug.
Justice department spokesperson Sue Glowach said she could not explain what the search entailed or how the jail prevents contraband items such as fentanyl and other drugs from entering the facility.
"It comes back to security of the facility," Glowach said.
"We don't discuss all the methods of how we search and watch for contrabands. It kind of defeats the purpose."
The incident is being investigated and RCMP were informed, as the jail regularly keeps in touch with police about illegal drugs in the facility, she said.
In November 2015, the correctional centre was placed on lockdown after an inmate overdosed on what officials suspected to have been fentanyl.
A second inmate was later found in a similar state.
A recent Auditor General's report that criticized how well the jail monitors contraband items from entering the facility concluded 251 contraband incidents took place at the jail between the 2012-13 and 2013-14 fiscal years.
It is not known if Tuesday's fentanyl incident at the correctional centre has any connection to last week's overdoses.
RCMP spokesperson Marie York-Condon said the RCMP investigation at 166 Borden Drive, where the furanyl fentanyl was found, remains separate from any other investigations.
Dr. David Pontin, an emergency room physician at Stanton Territorial Hospital, said the hospital has not seen any more fentanyl-related overdoses since last Friday.
"I want to reassure the public, whether you're in Yellowknife or Norman Wells or Inuvik or anywhere, emergency health-care staff are trained and capable of dealing with an overdose like this and everybody's being kept up to date on what's happening," Pontin said.
"A key part of ... keeping people safe on the streets of Yellowknife is keeping people informed."
