NHS Ayrshire & Arran is the latest Scottish health board to issue a warning about potent synthetic opioids in the drug supply. The board’s public health department was working closely with partner organisations to ‘address growing concerns about the rise in drug deaths and near-fatal overdoses among people using street drugs’, it said.
Nitazenes had not only been found in the heroin supply but also in ‘the wider drug market’, including benzodiazepines and counterfeit painkillers, the board stated, adding that it was working closely with alcohol and drug partnerships, peer recovery communities, the police, ambulance services and hospital emergency departments to monitor the situation and reduce harm.
‘Many of the harms we’re seeing involve the use of multiple drugs at once, which increases the risks significantly,’ said consultant in public health Sally Amor. ‘We urge everyone who uses drugs to be extremely cautious. There’s no reliable way to know what substances might be contaminated or how different drugs might interact. Having someone nearby who can help in an emergency is a vital harm reduction step, but it’s important to remember that there is no completely safe way to use these substances.’
Last month the most recent Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR) report from Public Health Scotland warned that suspected drug deaths across the country were up 15 per cent on the previous quarter, while Scottish Ambulance Service naloxone administration incidents had increased by 45 per cent – to an average of 84 per week (https://www.drinkanddrugsnews.com/drug-related-harms-on-the-increase-across-scotland-warns-phs/). Naloxone administration incidents in NHS Ayrshire and Arran had risen by 48 per cent, the report stated, although other board areas had recorded increases of up to 124 per cent. The majority of drug-related harm continued to involve more than one substance, it said, with the average number of controlled drugs detected per sample standing at six in hospital settings and four in post-mortem toxicology.
Public Health Isle of Man has also issued a warning about a suspected batch of ‘contaminated or high potency’ cocaine on the island, after a recent spike in hospital admissions. Anyone seeking medical treatment should ‘be honest’ with hospital staff about what had been taken, it urged.