New Zealand is at high risk of fentanyl being circulated widely and an "overdose epidemic", a Canadian expert says.
The opioid crisis has already taken hundreds of thousands of lives across North America and Europe and some of those drugs have been found on New Zealand shores, with fentanyl being responsible for 12 overdoses in Wairarapa earlier this year.
Dan Werb from, Canada's Centre for Drug Policy Evaluation, told AM New Zealand was at high risk of a fentanyl outbreak.
"Global drug trafficking patterns have shifted to produce lots more fentanyl and New Zealand being a small country… is at a really high risk of experiencing an overdose epidemic if those drug trafficking markets shift a bit," Dr Werb told host Ryan Bridge.
"Just last week we saw a huge shipment that was intercepted off the coast of Australia - that was fentanyl."
Dr Werb said fentanyl was smaller and easier to traffic through borders than other drugs.
"You can get so much more of this product in through ports compared to heroin," he said.
"It can escalate really, really quickly and I think that's one of the concerns observers have with the situation in New Zealand, right? Because there are just a few, small drug trafficking routes, one supply can dramatically impact such a large population of people here."
Dr Werb said New Zealand needed to take proactive steps to avoid such an outbreak.
Last month, the New Zealand Drug Foundation called for the Government to make naloxone - an antidote used to treat opioid overdoses - more widely available.
"[In Canada] we have a really combined approach of the drug testing, the overdose prevention sites, there is a massive amount of naloxone distributed," Dr Werb said. "That combination of services along with lower barriers to accessing medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction - that combination has certainly made a change."
Earlier this year, Canada's British Columbia temporarily decriminalised the possession of some illegal drugs like cocaine, MDMA and opioids for personal use by adults to help tackle a burgeoning drug abuse problem in the province.
Dr Werb said the decriminalisation was intended to reduce the stigma associated with substance use and make it easier for people to approach law enforcement and other authorities to seek guidance.
A poll earlier this year found about two-thirds of New Zealanders supported changing the country's drug laws and pursuing a similar approach.
