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N-propionyl parafluoronorfentanyl is a novel substance in the drug supply and there is little information on its toxicity and effects, the alert warned.

A toxic drug alert was issued for Nelson on Thursday, one day after the B.C. Coroner’s Service released its deaths due to toxic drugs report.

Although deaths due to toxic drugs has been decreasing in the West Kootenay-Boundary region — with four so far in 2025 compared to 36 in all of last year — Interior Heath issued the alert after a sample being sold as dilaudid/dillies/hydromorphone contained N-propionyl parafluoronorfentanyl.

“This is a counterfeit tablet sold as dilaudid, it does not contain hydromorphone,” the alert stated. “It contains an unknown amount a drug related to fentanyl.”

N-propionyl parafluoronorfentanyl is a novel substance in the drug supply and there is little information on its toxicity and effects, the alert warned.

Earlier this year the Coroner's Service released a statement saying toxicology testing has found a volatile and inconsistent drug supply across the province.

In 2025, fentanyl — and one of its analogues — is found to be part of eight out of every 10 test results, often combined with cocaine, methamphetamine and other substances.

“Nearly every unregulated drug death is the result of mixed drug toxicity,” the Service noted in its report, remaining the leading cause of death for people between 10 and 59 years old in B.C., more than homicide, suicide, accidents and diseases combined.

Although the number of unregulated drug deaths in the Kootenay Boundary region has dropped significantly in the first part of 2025, according to data released by the B.C. Coroner’s Service in May, that could change with the latest announcement.

Four people in the West Kootenay-Boundary had died by drug poisoning in 2025. The unregulated drug death rates per 100,000 population by health service delivery area (HSDA) — of which Nelson is part of the Kootenay Boundary HSDA — had dropped to 17.8 in 2025, from a 10-year high of 47.9 in 2023

The figures were part of a preliminary report from the B.C. Coroners Service that revealed that 132 people across the province lost their lives to toxic drugs in February, and 143 people in March.

Consistent with reporting throughout the public-health emergency, fentanyl and its analogues continue to be the most common substance detected in expedited toxicological testing. More than three-quarters of decedents who underwent expedited testing in 2025 were found to have fentanyl in their systems (70 per cent), followed by methamphetamine (50 per cent) and fluorofentanyl (47 per cent).