Opioids more potent than fentanyl: Drug Foundation urges people to check what they taking

Kiwis are urged to be careful as health teams discover more drugs from a new family of potent opioids that are suspected of causing several deaths locally.

The latest drug early warning system High Alert notice was issued yesterday, with health teams saying they had found a highly potent synthetic opioid from the nitazene family - a group of synthetic drugs that can be more potent than fentanyl - being used in the country.

The Drug Foundation is now urging the public to have any drugs of this nature they may be taking checked at clinics.

”These are very potent drugs that can cause overdose and death at very low doses, especially if people don’t know that they’re taking them,” Drug Foundation executive director Sarah Helm said.

”We’ve seen them sold around the country in many different colours and forms including pills, powders, gel caps and liquids. So we are urging people, no matter what they have and how experienced they are, to get their drugs checked if they can.

”Drug checking is a free, legal and confidential service is available at clinics across the country.”

Yesterday’s High Alert notification was just the latest warning about nitazenes that are being seen in the community in increasing amounts since they were first discovered just over a year ago, the Drug Foundation said.

Adding to the concern is that many people might not know what they are getting when they take them, Helm said.

”We are concerned that the variety of forms that these drugs can come in, and the misrepresentation of what the drug is, may mean people with little experience or preparation are at risk,” she said.

”Even people who are used to taking opioids are finding themselves in trouble. Because these drugs are so potent, it is hard to measure an accurate dose.”

Helm said that the increase in nitazenes in the community also shows why improving the availability of naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal medicine, is crucial.

”Naloxone saves lives and can reverse a nitazene overdose. We’re urging people to get their hands on it if they can, but we need to make it easier to get,” she said.

Late yesterday, the High Alert notification reported that an orange powder sold in Wellington as butonitazene was found to be either N-pyrrolidino-protonitazene or N-pyrrolidino-isotonitazene, which are significantly more potent.

High Alert says N-pyrrolidino-protonitazene has been implicated in many deaths internationally and is thought to be 25 times more potent than fentanyl.

In September, High Alert warned that yellow tablets being sold online as oxycodone were actually metonitazene.

Advice for staying safer if using drugs:

The effects of nitazenes can include:

How to identify an opioid overdose

If someone shows any of these symptoms after taking a substance, call 111 and ask for an ambulance immediately. You should also give them naloxone if you have it (you may need more than one dose).