Woman dies after consuming fentanyl-laced cannabis in Warwick

WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Warwick police issued a public safety warning on Thursday after a 27-year-old woman died when she unknowingly consumed cannabis laced with fentanyl.

ORIGINAL NOTE: https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/west-bay/woman-dies-after-consuming-fentanyl-laced-cannabis-in-warwick/

by: Raymond Baccari, Jake Holter, Alex Torres-Perez

Police said the woman overdosed around 2:30 a.m. Thursday at a hotel in Warwick.

The cannabis wasn’t bought from a licensed dispensary, according to police.

URI pharmacy professor Anita Jacobson told 12 News that even a small amount of fentanyl could be enough to cause someone’s “breathing rate to slow down too much.”

“They lose consciousness before they realize what is happening,” Jacobson added. “And that can lead to death.”

Jacobson said she’s never seen cannabis laced with the synthetic opioid and explained that can be the danger of buying substances from somewhere that isn’t licensed.

“You can’t trust something that is not coming from a regulated, licensed facility,” she continued. “Dispensaries that have regulations, there is of course no risk of there fentanyl being associated with that.”

Jacobson also recommends everyone to both have naloxone on them and know how to administer it. URI offers free doses of the overdose-reversing medication and courses on how to use it.

Police are now looking into where the drugs came from.

“As our investigation continues, we are working to determine whether this is an isolated incident or part of a larger trend,” Captain Daniel DiMaio said in an email to 12 News. “We are sharing this preliminary information as a public service advisory to raise awareness and promote public safety.”