Hot shots: Are laced drugs being used to murder people?

Guest: Katharine Lake Berz, freelance journalist

Are criminals using laced drugs to target and murder people? With overdose deaths more than quadrupling from 2016 to 2021 in the Niagara region and investigations ongoing, some say that some of the once-believed accidental deaths may have actually been caused by ingestion of “hot shots” (a recreational drug intentionally laced with a lethal substance, like fentanyl). Homicides disguised as an overdose are hard to prove. There’s no set threshold for authorities to investigate an overdose death that might be suspicious and these cases are incredibly hard to prove.

This episode was produced by Paulo Marques and Raju Mudhar.