UK Police Issue Warning Over Drug More Potent Than Heroin

Most people would assume that heroin is one of, if not the most, dangerous drug on the planet in terms of addictiveness and effects on the body.

But there are some crazy chemicals that can be a shit load worse.

Introducing fentayl, an opioid pain medication which is considered a class A drug in the UK.

Apparently, it takes as little as five minutes for the drug to kick in and can last up to an hour if injected. You can get the drug in both powdered and pill form.

The most common side effects are diarrhoea, nausea, constipation, dry mouth, sleepiness, confusion, weakness and sweating.

It's also fucking deadly.

More than 50,000 in the US died from drug overdoses in 2015. Eighteen percent of those ODs were related to fentanyl - a 73 percent increase on the numbers from 2014. It's also wreaking havoc in Canada - where 16 people died in one night in Vancouver in 2015.

Medical examiners ruled last year that pop icon Prince died from a fatal fentanyl overdose. They said the drug was found along with other pills recovered from his home.

Now there are fears that the drug has entered into the UK.

National Crime Agency's head of Drugs Threat and Intelligence, Tony Saggers, said in a statement: "This class A synthetic drug is upwards of 100 times more potent than street heroin, with some analogues many more times potent again.

"Fentanyl is responsible for hundreds of deaths in North America, although until very recently has been extremely rare in the UK.

"We are aware there has been an increase in drug deaths this year in the UK, primarily linked to heroin use.

Credit: DEA.gov

"Although this spike has been in the Humber, Yorkshire and North East of England region, it is too early to say to what extent fentanyl was a contributing factor.

"Fentanyl can be problematic to identify in post-mortem toxicology, but we have noticed an increase in the drug in forensic testing of street heroin.

"Heroin users need to be aware that the amount of fentanyl in a £10 bag of heroin need only be 1/50th of the total quantity (about 2 milligrams) to be a lethal dose."

Tony also said that dealers face harsher penalties if they're caught dealing heroin laced with fentanyl because under UK law, adding 'toxic cutting agents to drugs is deemed an aggravating feature'.

A teenager from Kent died after overdosing on the drug last year.

According to the Daily Mail, Robert Fraser went to pick up drugs and was given the fentanyl for free; the dealer said it was like MDMA.

His dad found his body next to prepared lines of the fentanyl.

Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Vancouver Coastal Health

Topics: Drugs

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

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