Fears over slow response to jump in deaths from opioids

Super-strength street drugs made in China take grip of UK

- AMY-CLARE MARTIN

Six people in the UK are dying each week from super-strength street drugs made in China which are up to 500 times stronger than morphine, The Independent can reveal, in a terrifying escalation in fatalities.

Shocking new figures show 75 additional deaths have been linked to new synthetic opioids called nitazenes in the last 11 weeks to 9 May - bringing the death toll to 176 lives lost in less than a year. This includes 106 deaths in England, 21 in Wales, 47 in Scotland and two in Northern Ireland since last June, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA).

Experts said the figures are "proof" the lethal drugs are taking hold in Britain after months of warnings of the risk of a US-style opioid epidemic and fear the true scale of the crisis is yet to be uncovered as testing and detection are slow to respond. One warned: "Everybody on the street knows it's nitazenes killing people. It's just our processes and our systems which aren't reacting quickly enough."

The figures come as it emerged policing minister Chris Philp last month issued an update to drug partners over the threat posed by nitazenes, warning of a "significant risk" that they could become more prevalent, in a letter seen by The Independent.

Meanwhile the government this week announced plans to expand access to overdose-reversal drug naloxone, so police, paramedics and family members can administer life-saving treatment without a prescription. Officials also unveiled plans to ban six more synthetic opioids and revealed all new nitazene compounds will automatically be class-As as lawmakers scramble to respond to the rapidly evolving drugs market.