What are nitazenes, drugs causing ‘holes’ in skin, wreaking havoc in the UK?

A deadly drug, which is more potent than fentanyl, is wreaking havoc in the United Kingdom. Lesser-known synthetic opioids called nitazenes are leading to overdose cases, alarming the authorities. Recently, the police and border officials made the UK’s largest-ever seizure of synthetic opioids, including 150,000 tablets of nitazenes and other class A and B drugs, reported BBC. What are nitazenes? How dangerous is it? How has it emerged as a concern in the UK? Let’s take a closer look. What are nitazenes? Nitazenes were first developed by a Swiss company called Ciba Pharmaceuticals in the 1950s as a pain-killing medication. However, these drugs never reached markets as they are highly potent and addictive, as per BBC. These synthetic opioids can also be deadly. According to The Conversation piece, opioids affect the site in the brain called mu-opioid receptors. When these brain receptors are activated, they can provide relief from pain, and at higher doses, trigger a feeling of euphoria, followed by drowsiness. Drugs such as morphine, heroin and fentanyl can activate mu-opioid receptors, The Conversation piece added. [caption id=“attachment_13464692” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Drugs like heroin can activate mu-opioid receptors. Reuters File Photo[/caption] Nitazenes are similar to fentanyl, but much stronger than heroin. Many have been classified as Class A drugs recently, reported Sky News. How dangerous are these synthetic opioids? The highly potent synthetic opioids have been associated with thousands of deaths in the United States in the last few years. According to the data published by the Tennessee Department of Health last September, there was a four-old rise in deaths due to deadly overdoses linked to nitazenes in the previous couple of years, reported NBC News. “Nitazenes are an emerging group of highly potent psychoactive substances” the report warned. These synthetic opioids as also being used as adulterants in other illicit drugs, such as cocaine, benzodiazepines and synthetic cannabinoids or “spice”, noted The Conversation. It came to light in 2019 that nitazenes were cut and mixed into heroin, cocaine, and street pills, BBC reported. When these synthetic opioids are interlaced with other drugs and alcohol, the risk of risk of overdose and death increases. As per the British broadcaster, those who consume synthetic opioids are likely to experience: small, narrowed pupils, loss of consciousness, dizziness, difficulty in breathing, nausea or vomiting, cold skin, low blood pressure or reduced heart rate. Difficulty in breathing could be the result of these drugs suppressing the respiratory system, a cause of death in opioid overdose, according to The Conversation.  How the drugs are affecting the UK Nitazenes have made it to the streets in the UK. The drug was first discovered in the country in a sample of white powder kept at the back of a taxi in Wakefield in April 2021. It has since been detected in heroin, cannabis, cocaine, a vape, and mostly in black market versions of the anti-anxiety drug diazepam, as per the Sky News report. Eleven people were arrested after the UK police seized its largest-ever stash of synthetic opioids in October. [caption id=“attachment_13464632” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] People walk outside of Brixton Underground station, in London, on 6 May. Reuters File Photo[/caption] Detective Superintendent Helen Rance, who is leading the investigation, said earlier: “Synthetic opioids have been detected in batches of heroin found in London and across the UK; they substantially raise the risk of incredibly serious harm to the user and are believed to be linked to a number of deaths.” These synthetic opioids are believed to have been recently cut into a batch of drugs in Dublin, reportedly leading to 57 deaths due to overdose. A 23-year-old at London’s Whitechapel underground station, told Sky News that symptoms from her drug usage have changed in the last few months. “I’ve got holes in my legs,” she said. “There’s no skin, just holes. It’s painful.” Drug charity workers are of the view that this could be because synthetic opioids are being used as adulterants in other illicit drugs. “I’m seeing people coughing up blood. I’m seeing people dying,” a crack cocaine user in East London told Sky News. As per the British police, there has been an uptick in the use of synthetic opioids due to a decline in heroin smuggling from Afghanistan to the UK. This comes after the Taliban’s crackdown on heroin production in Afghanistan. “I think people are buying what they believe to be heroin and it’s been adulterated by these stronger compounds,” Dr Caroline Copeland, director of the National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths, was quoted as saying by BBC. “Because they are so much stronger the people that are using them have no idea how much to use, and what they thought was previously a safe dose is now a very unsafe dose.” Speaking to Sky News, Meg Jones, director of social justice charity Cranstoun, said: “We are seeing nitazenes pop up in pockets all over the UK and it is incredibly concerning.” “There are an increasing number of synthetic opioids being detected in drugs that people thought were very different. We need to see government action quickly on this, because we are sleepwalking into what I would deem to be a public health crisis, and we are not prepared for it in the UK at all,” she warned. With inputs from agencies