An advocacy group for substance users is warning cocaine laced with a pig dewormer is circulating around Grand Forks.
Levamisole was detected in a cocaine sample in Grand Forks on July 11, Amelia Martzke, Drug Checking Program Coordinator for ANKORS Nelson stated in an email. The sample was about half cocaine, and half levamisole.
This discovery means it’s highly likely that this substance is circulating throughout the West Kootenay region, she added.
According to the BC Centre for Disease Control, symptoms of consuming this drug include blotchy, purple bruises on the skin. Users also reported infections with flu-like symptoms – such as chills, body aches, fatigue and fever, bad coughs and difficulty breathing.
Read More: Multiple fatal overdoses connected to contaminated cocaine in Interior Health region
It is unclear how much Levamisole needs to be consumed before symptoms appear.
This drug has been found in cocaine since 2003, according to the California Poison Control Centre. It’s a relatively inexpensive drug commonly used to cut pure cocaine that is tasteless and has a low melting point.
Levamisole was taken off the market due to causing agranulocytosis (a reduction in the number of white blood cells). Long-term use of cocaine cut with levamisole can be toxic and may put people at an increased risk of infection and illness as a result of the effects on the immune system.
ANKORS strongly encourages people who use or know someone who uses to get their drugs tested and to learn more about Levamisole.
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