SUPER STRONG DRUGS ALERT

Health chiefs' warning after spike in deaths blamed on synthetic opioids

- BY MARK MCGIVERN Chief Reporter

DEADLY designer drugs have been linked to 38 deaths in just three months, health chiefs warned last night.

Addicts have now been issued a nationwide alert after a surge in overdoses linked to deadly nitazenes - a synthetic opioid often added to street heroin.

Other fake opioids like benzodiazepines and oxycodone have also been detected in post-mortem examinations in Scotland.

An alert by the Rapid Actions Drug Alerts and Response (Radar), led by Public Health Scotland (PHS), says the laboratorymade opioids pose a substantial risk of overdose, hospitalisation and death.

The alert was issued "to respond to increasing harms and availability in the drugs supply" after nitazene-type opioids were increasingly identified in hospital and post-mortems.

Between January and March 2025, nitazenes were seen in 38 deaths.