A deadly drug that has caused hundreds of fatal overdoses across the country has made its way to the Yukon.

Yukon chief coroner Kirsten Macdonald issued a warning Thursday afternoon after the first fentanyl-related death occurred in the territory.

Macdonald said she wasn’t able to provide any information about the death itself, saying it’s under investigation.

“Forensic toxicological testing was performed on an expedited basis,” she said.

The drug has been responsible for hundreds of deaths across the country.

It is 100 times more powerful than morphine, meaning the equivalent of a few grains of salt can be deadly, Dr. Brendan Hanley, the Yukon’s chief medical officer of health, told the Star today.

And worse, it is sometimes present in other street drugs without the user knowing about it.

Just like morphine or heroin, fentanyl acts as a depressant.

That means it has a sedative effect which leads to drowsiness, a coma and eventually death.

Everything in the body slows down, Hanley noted, to the point a person will stop breathing.

Lack of oxygen to the brain will result in death.

In B.C. alone, 370 people died because of the drug since 2012. It’s even worse in Alberta, with short of 400 deaths in the past two years.

The drug has been spreading like wildfire over the past few years.

While it only accounted for five per cent of all illicit drug-related deaths in B.C., last year it reached 32 per cent.

A Globe and Mail investigation published recently found that failures from the federal and provincial governments to act are partly responsible for what is quickly becoming a public health crisis.

The lack of harm-reduction measures, treatment programs and the high volume of opiate prescribed by Canadian doctors all played a role in the crisis.

That’s because the drug is commonly used by doctors and in the emergency room.

It can be used for acute pain management, e.g. somebody comes to the ER with a dislocated shoulder.

It can also be used in longer-acting forms for chronic pain management like cancers.

But in the past decades, doctors have prescribed many more opiates for non-cancer chronic pain, Hanley said.

In some circumstances, it will leave people addicted, leading them to seek the drug elsewhere when their prescription is cut off.

Whitehorse RCMP told the Star today the presence of the drug in the territory has caused “concerns” to the force.

“Over the last few years, Canadian law enforcement and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) have noted a dramatic increase in illicit fentanyl-related seizures, and a high occurrence rate of overdoses and overdose deaths,” said Const. Julia Fox.

The effects of the drugs are unpredictable, she noted.

“Users have no idea of the level of purity or the potency of what they take,” said Fox.

“When mixed with antidepressants, fentanyl is potentially lethal.”

To date there hasn’t been any seizure of fentanyl in the territory.

The force said it’s monitoring the situation closely.

“People who are addicted to opioid drugs are urged to seek help and information through their doctor or nurse, or through supporting agencies such as Alcohol and Drug Services, Many Rivers or Blood Ties Four Directions Yukon,” Hanley said.

He advised opioid drug users to have a sober buddy when using and to abide by the following rules

• never use drugs alone;

• always know the source of the drugs you are taking;

• regardless of the source, start any new supply of drugs with very small doses in case it is laced with fentanyl or another contaminant; and

• never mix drugs or speedball (e.g. mix fentanyl with stimulant drugs like cocaine).

“Early symptoms of an overdose include trouble walking or talking, slow, laboured breathing, slow heartbeat, cold, clammy skin and severe sleepiness,” Hanley said.

If those symptoms occur, call 911.

“A fentanyl overdose can be rapidly reversed with prompt medical attention,” he said.