Killer drug leaves bodies strewn across UK street with 'better high than heroin'
Fears are growing that a new killer drug "with a better high than heroin" has made its way to UK streets.
One drug taker from London has a theory why lab-made painkillers, more commonly known as synthetic opioids, are take the streets by storm. It's the same thing which has causing an epidemic in the USA, with the drug ranging from 50 to 100 times stronger than regular heroin.
Although many of the drugs in the crisis across the pond come, like Fentanyl and Oxycontin, have been around for more than 50 years, in the past 10 years prescription drugs have become a major problem. Due to the difference in strength, it's a lot easier for users to overdose, especially when the substance is being mixed with others drugs with a weaker substance, the Express reports.
Remi, whose name has been changed to protect their identity, has helped shed a light on the ongoing drug problem hitting UK streets at the minute. He said: “My addiction was still the same as it was six months before but my withdrawal was heavier. I didn't feel better until I went to a certain dealer. His drug [package] sizes were much smaller than others. So it didn't make sense to me [why I needed it so badly].”
Remi is a drug user on Whitechapel High Street, in east London, but isn't alone. He has seen fellow addicts struggle with the pain of withdrawal and frantically look for their next hit. They added: “It has a distinct, different taste,” he said, describing why he was seeking this seller’s heroin. “It is bitter and sweet when I smoke it, like an espresso with two sugars.
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“The high is better too. Heroin is supposed to be a downer, right? But the sh*t that we're getting here is making people more active, it is giving you energy.”
Remi thinks many of the people who are addicted to these drugs "don't have a f****** clue" and are the same people who are waking up in hot sweats, shaking and vomiting in the toilets. Concerns about this drug problem stretch further than east London, with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities issuing a statement in July about "potent synthetic opioids" which were implicated in heroin overdoses and deaths.
The report explained there had been an unusual increase in opioid drug tests. In some cases, a group of drugs called nitazenes which are 100 times stronger than morphine, had been detected in the drug supply in certain parts of the country. Another user, whose named has been changed to John, explained how he overdosed on synthetic opioids without even knowing he had taken them.
He said: “I’d wake up in the hospital and know the spice had fentanyl in it. Got a batch with fentanyl three times while I was jail. When you take fentanyl you get to a point where you just black out and your friends afterwards tell you how you were smashing your head on the floor."
You can get help with drug addiction on the NHS website, or by visiting Talk to Frank here or calling 0300 123 1099.
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