Potent synthetic opioid deaths on the rise

Credit: PA Wire/Lauren Hurley

By Olivia Bowthorpe

Nitazenes, a class of extremely strong synthetic opioids, may contribute to many more deaths in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland than official figures suggest, research suggests.

These drugs are up to 500 times more potent than heroin. They were originally synthesised as potential analgesics in the 1950s, but never marketed due to the risk of overdose. However, nitazenes are cheap and easy to manufacture, and have become increasingly common as illegal drugs in the UK since 2019.

The new study combines tests on rats with post-mortems, coroner's reports, and national mortality data.

Dr Caroline Copeland, senior lecturer at King’s College London, and colleagues found a rapid rise in nitazene-related deaths and evidence that the true number may be up to a third higher than reported due to the drugs’ instability after death.

"Nitazene concentrations substantially decline in post-mortem blood samples stored under conditions that mimic real-world handling," they write in Clinical Toxicology. "These findings demonstrate an urgent need for enhanced surveillance and targeted public health strategies to reduce nitazene-related harms."