Synthetic drug '15 times more potent than fentanyl' sparked wave of overdoses in Ireland

The HSE said the risk associated with the drug is 'far higher than the risks associated with heroin'

An increased volume of synthetic drugs “15 times more potent than fentanyl” being sold on the Irish market led to an unprecedented amount of overdoses last year, the HSE has said.

The new synthetic opioid called Nitazines has been sold as a ‘new’ or ‘strong’ heroin in Dublin and Cork and has a much higher risk than heroin.

Testing of the substance showed it contained no heroin but only nitazenes along with caffeine and paracetamol, which were synthesised in a lab.

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The drug led to multiple overdoses from early last November in both Dublin and Cork city. Professor Eamon Keenan, the National Clinical Lead for addiction services in the HSE, today told Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio One about the worrying new trend.

He said nitazines emerged as a real drug of concern for those working in addiction services last year when the synthetic opioids were associated with 57 cases of overdose in Dublin and 17 in Cork.

"They were being sold as ‘new’ heroin or strong heroin, but when we did the analysis we identified that there was actually no heroin in it,” said Prof Keenan.

"It was nitazine drug mixed with paracetamol and caffeine and being sold, so in some ways we were wondering whether dealers were testing the market by introducing this new drug," he said, adding that the number of overdoses seen in Dublin in early November were “unprecedented”.

“Since the Taliban have taken control in Afghanistan, the production of heroin has decreased significantly and our colleagues in the EMCDA (the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction) identified a 95pc drop off in heroin production in Afghanistan,” Prof Keenan said.

"So, we think that drug dealers are then looking at new and novel ways that they can get products to people.”

He said the drugs were first synthesised around 60 years ago as a potential alternative to morphine.

"They were never marketed as such because of the potency and the risk of overdose with them and the risk of dependency with them.

“The risk associated with these drugs is far higher than the risks associated with heroin.”

He added that the nitazines identified in Ireland are “about 15 times more powerful than fentanyl”.

There is currently no evidence that opioid drug fentanyl has arrived in the Irish drug market, however, nitazine drugs have been identified and “are actually more potent than fentanyl”.

"Our concern about all the talk about fentanyl is that maybe that’s distracted people, maybe people are focused on fentanyl, when they hear us talking about nitazines they say ‘well, at least it’s not fentanyl’ and then they may be tempted to take the nitazines.

"When in actual fact, the nitazines are more potent than fentanyl.

“This is a powerful substance which causes overdose and in some cases can cause death,” he said, adding that some people collapse almost straight away after using nitazines.

He said the drugs act on the system much quicker than heroin, with some people seen to “collapse almost straight away” after use.

"The risks of overdose are much higher with these nitazine drugs because of their mechanism of action.”

The HSE are working with local outreach groups to raise awareness about the recent overdose clusters and provide advice to drug users.

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