Stolen animal euthanasia drug used recreationally in Tampere

A person in Tampere has reported using Euthasol, an animal euthanasia drug stolen from Kuru in Ylöjärvi, Yle reports. The person required acute medical care.

The drug contains pentobarbital, a barbiturate that depresses the central nervous system. According to the product information, a one-gram dose can be fatal to a human.

“This substance carries a particularly high risk,” said Juuso Niemenpää, a doctor at Tampere’s A-klinikka addiction clinic. He did not treat the person but was informed about the case by a member of staff.

Police previously warned about the danger. Investigation leader Marko Peltonen said 240 millilitres of the substance, contained in one medicine bottle, had fallen into the wrong hands. He learned from Yle that it had been used recreationally.

Police are still asking people to report any observations or information related to the substance. It is described as a red, highly sticky liquid that flows poorly.

Risk increases when combined with sedatives

The Haukiveti veterinary clinic in Kuru, Ylöjärvi, was burgled over the weekend. Euthasol, which is used to euthanise animals, was taken during the break-in.

Pentobarbital belongs to the barbiturate group of drugs, which depress the central nervous system. Niemenpää said barbiturates have effectively disappeared from human medicine in Finland, where they have not been used for more than 30 years.

“They were extremely challenging drugs, meaning the difference between a safe and dangerous dose is quite small,” Niemenpää said.

The greatest danger arises when the stolen substance is used with other drugs. Euthasol is a sedative, and excessive effects can cause breathing to stop. There is no antidote for barbiturates, unlike opioids and benzodiazepines.

Rarely used recreationally

Pentobarbital is rarely used recreationally in Finland, partly because it is difficult to obtain. Teemu Gunnar, head of the forensic toxicology team at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, said it appears very rarely in drug-use monitoring.

Niemenpää also said barbiturates, or substances stolen from veterinary clinics, are extremely uncommon in addiction work.

Barbiturates played a significant role in medicine in earlier decades, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s. They were used, among other purposes, to treat epilepsy, provide anaesthesia and relieve anxiety. However, they carried a risk of dependence and overdose.

Niemenpää said substance dependence can impair a person’s judgement and lead them to take risks they would otherwise avoid.