Is Fentanyl Really Being Found in Marijuana
In early April of this year, the Calgary Herald ran a story about a Calgary man that had been arrested for sales of fentanyl that may have been placed on a substance that resembled marijuana. According to the Herald:
Police said they searched the man's vehicle and found 1,001 grams of powdered fentanyl, 4.5 grams of a green substance — later determined to be a mixture of fentanyl, benzodiazepine and caffeine — and 11.1 grams of a Class A precursor, which is commonly used in the manufacturing of fentanyl.
In the picture in the tweet below, you can see a green vegetable substance that some say resembles cannabis, but anyone that has ever really seen cannabis knows that this is definitely not cannabis.
https://twitter.com/calgaryherald/status/1116957917792677888
Misleading Information Was Put Out
In just a few days, a well meaning investigator for an energy company put out a safety bulletin that fentanyl had been found in a substance that resembled marijuana, but the substance contained no THC and only fentanyl. The bulletin also showed the photo of the green vegetative matter. Although it was true that there was a green vegetative substance with fentanyl on it, it misled readers into believing there was fentanyl tainted marijuana in the supply chain. Simply put, a drug dealer allegedly put fentanyl on some green vegetative matter that looks nothing like marijuana.
There have been a number of other reports in the press of marijuana found containing fentanyl. When looking at this objectively, there have been very few incidents of fentanyl laced marijuana. Although we should take precautions when dealing with any drug during an investigation, cannabis laced fentanyl is not common. The bigger threat from marijuana is not fentanyl, but the pesticides like Carbofuran and fertilizers being used in the growing of marijuana.
Take Precautions in All Drug Cases
Times are changing and so are the drugs we have to deal with on the street. Fentanyl is just one threat in a long list of drugs that can harm an officer if they are not careful and take precautions. I recommend that all officers wear at least an N95 mask, nitrile gloves and eye protection when investigating drug crimes. If you wear these three basic forms of PPE, you will have taken the first step in protecting yourself on the job.