Nitazenes: The synthetic opioid you've never heard of killing Brits

Описание: There’s a hidden opioid crisis in Britain’s second city.

Nitazenes have entered Birmingham’s drug supply.

They're a synthetic opioid with similar effects to heroin or fentanyl - but much deadlier due to their potency.

A 2019 American crackdown on the underground manufacturing of fentanyl in China led the same chemists to start producing Nitazenes instead. Then, in 2021, when the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan and banned the cultivation of opium, UK heroin suppliers panicked and started looking for synthetic opioids they could cut their supply with.

Since the summer of 2023, they’ve killed hundreds of Brits.

Freedom of Information requests, submitted by journalist Jacob Furedi at DISPATCH, revealed Birmingham is the epicentre of this hidden crisis - and overdoses are rising.

Initially, affecting online buyers of oxycodone and benzodiazepines, in 2023 overdoses swept through the city’s heroin-users, most of whom were living on the streets or in supported housing HMOs.

And, this month, warnings have been issued by London’s nightclubs about blue-green pills after two people died from suspected Nitazene overdoses.

The National Crime Agency says: “There has never been a more dangerous time to take drugs.”

But, why is Birmingham the worst hit? What happens to the people left behind? And what can be done prevent more overdoses?

Reporter: Laura Beveridge
Videographer: Sam Sharrocks
Video Editor: Laura Beveridge

Read Jacob's piece here: https://dispatch-media.com/britains-h...

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