Opioid ‘hundred times stronger than heroin’ linked to UK clubbing deaths for first time
Warning over synthetic opioid in blue-green pills linked to London nightclub deaths
- Two people in their twenties have died in London after allegedly consuming a super-strong opioid drug, believed to be a nitazene, which can be hundreds of times stronger than heroin.
- The victims, a 20-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man, reportedly took the drug after visiting a club in south London over the May bank holiday weekend.
- Nightclub the Ministry of Sound issued a warning about blue-green pills marked with '80' being sold across London, which are suspected to contain synthetic opioids, ketamine, and MDMA, and are being mis-sold as ecstasy or oxycodone.
- Professor Fiona Measham, founder of drug checking charity The Loop, told The Times there had been two nitazene-related deaths per week in the UK, with the latest deaths appearing to leap from dependent to recreational users.
- The Metropolitan Police are investigating the deaths and awaiting toxicology results, while the Home Office stated they are working to tackle the threat from synthetic opioids but cannot endorse recreational drug testing.