In the latest chapter of an ongoing pattern, a fentanyl-laced cannabis scare in Vermont turned out to be a false alarm. Two cases of cannabis suspected of being laced with fentanyl in the state were cleared of the drug by a lab weeks later, after first causing a false-positive for the drug.
“Fentanyl-laced marijuana blamed for overdose in Vermont,” local station WCAX reported on November 21. Brattleboro Police Department (BPD) told the media they revived a patient using CPR and several doses of Narcan—the opioid-overdose antidote naloxone—after the cannabis reportedly tested positive for fentanyl. The person told police they hadn’t taken any opioids—just cannabis.
The news quickly went national. Police searched a residence in Brattleboro on November 30 and said that they found several containers of what they believed to be fentanyl-laced cannabis, the Brattleboro Reformer reported. Three people in Brattleboro were arrested in connection to the crime, US News reported on December 2.
The cannabis was sent to a lab for confirmation of the presence of the drug, police said. But both samples from the two incidents turned out to have no fentanyl, after all. “The seized marijuana in both incidents was submitted to a forensic laboratory where testing was conducted,” the Brattleboro Police Department said in a statement. “BPD was notified no fentanyl was found in the marijuana in either case.”
“BPD stands by its previous public safety advisory that it is wise for consumers of marijuana to know the source and history of any marijuana they ingest,” the department added. Vermont legalized recreational marijuana in 2018 for adults 21 and older, and the topic is frequently a headline.
The same thing happened a year ago in New York