Authorities said nitazenes are produced in illicit labs in China. (Representational Pic)
A devastating super-strength drug spreading rapidly across the UK has been linked to more than 100 deaths. According to a BBC report, a doctor who has treated those patients has urged the government to take urgent steps to check its spread. The drugs, called nitazenes, are synthetic opioids and more than 500 times more powerful than heroin, according to health officials. They added that nitazenes are being mixed into supplies of other drugs and counterfeit medications sold online. On Wednesday, fifteen synthetic opioids became Class A drugs, said the BBC.
Dr Mark Pucci, meanwhile, pointed towards flawed data collection methods explaining that this is led to incorrect reporting of numbers.
"I believe there are very few NHS labs around the country that are set up to test for nitazenes," the doctor told the BBC.
"I do believe England is behind the curve on this matter and is now playing catch up. The data collection method they are using in terms of testing drug paraphernalia is only ever going to be the tip of the iceberg," he added.
He observed 13 patients who overdosed and survived between July and October 2023.
The government, however, said it is taking a number of measures to keep nitazenes off the streets.
"Placing these toxic drugs under the strictest controls sends a clear message that the consequences for peddling them will be severe," Home Secretary James Cleverly was quoted as saying by the outlet.
His office said that those caught in the supply and production of these drugs could face up to life in prison, under the country's Misuse of Drugs Act.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) believes nitazenes are produced in illicit labs in China and brought into the UK through the Royal Mail and other parcel operators.
Authorities have found them in samples of illegal diazepam tablets, most likely bought online.
Two people recovering from heroin addiction told the BBC that they nearly died after taking the new drugs.
One of them said he was hospitalised after taking nitazenes, thinking it was heroin.
"It scared the daylights out of me," said the man recalling how he woke up in hospital with a tube down his throat, a catheter fitted and wearing a heart monitor.
Experts now fear that this new drug could lead to a fresh summer epidemic in the UK, mirroring the opioid crisis in the US that claimed thousands of lives.