Charlottetown police receive large Fentanyl drop-off

More than 120 Fentanyl patches were put in the prescription drop-off box at the Charlottetown police station recently.

Fentanyl is an opioid pain reliever 100 times stronger than morphine. It is generally used by patients with severe chronic painor cancer pain.

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On the street, opiate users sometimesextractthe drug from patches,heatit to make it more potent, and injectit.

While this was an unusually high number of patches to be turned in, police don't believe there was anything suspicious about it. They said it was likely dropped off by a family member of someone who had a prescription.

The drop-box was set up in May 2013 to help prevent unused prescription drugs from winding up on Charlottetown streets and sold illegally.

Deputy Chief Gary McGuigan estimated about $100,000 worth of opioids have been turned in since the drop-off box was set up.

"That's keeping them out of the hands of our most vulnerable citizens," he said.

The drop-off box is located in the lobby of the police station, at 10 Kirkwood Drive.

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