Re: The illegal drugs market is changing—is the UK prepared? bmj.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bmj.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Synthetic opioids are entering the drugs supply chain in the UK, resulting in rising overdose deaths we need to act urgently to avoid a crisis similar to that in North America, write Niamh Eastwood and Shayla Schlossenberg
Drug related deaths in the UK are at crisis levels. This is largely driven by opioid related fatalities on average 12 people a day die from opioid overdoses.123 Until now, these deaths have been occurring within a relatively stable drugs market, but that market may now be shifting with the appearance of extremely powerful synthetic opioids in the UK. These opioids are more likely to cause fatal overdoses especially when used by people unaware of the risks they pose or who are unprepared to come across them in their drug supply.
The heroin supply in the UK and Europe largely comes from Afghanistan.4 In 2022, the Taliban declared a ban on opium production. While it is unclear whether there was a heroin shortage in the UK already or if the ban has caused a price hike