Lethal super-strength opioids have been detected in 130 samples of fake prescription medicines bought in the UK as a grieving mother calls for better testing.
Deadly synthetic opioids called nitazenes, which can be so potent that a dose the size of a grain of sand can kill, have already been linked to at least 284 deaths in just over a year.
Last December, The Independent revealed the drugs were contaminating heroin supplies and also being detected in counterfeit prescription anxiety medication sold on the dark web and at online pharmacies.
Now it has emerged the country’s only national drug testing service WEDINOS has found the lethal substances in more than 100 examples of prescription medicines sold to unwitting users.
Promising opera singer Alex Harpum, 23, had tried to buy Xanax, which is only available with a prescription in the UK, before he was found dead in his student flat last July.
His death was suspected to have been caused by sudden adult death syndrome until his mother pushed for more testing, which found he had taken a substance laced with nitazenes.
His mother Anna Jacques told the BBC she remained in “disbelief” at the lack of testing, adding: “If I hadn’t pushed for better answers in the middle of massive grief, then to this day I would have no idea how he actually died.
“Unless we’re testing for them, how is anyone going to be aware and informed [of the dangers]?”
Ms Jacques, who lives in north Wales, believes Alex tried to purchase Xanax, the brand name for anxiety medication alprazolam, because he struggled to sleep while taking medication for his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
New analysis of WEDINOS findings uncovered 130 instances of someone trying to buy prescription medicines in the year to September 2024, only to receive substances contaminated with nitazenes.
Many were purporting to be benzodiazepines, such as diazepam, and insomnia treatments including temazepam and zolpidem.
Nitazenes were also found in substances masquerading as promethazine, an allergy medication.
Often the fake medicines looked like the same kind of packet you might get from your chemist on the high street.
The development comes after the National Crime Agency director general Graeme Biggar warned there has never been a more dangerous time to take drugs as the country scrambles to respond to the threat from nitazenes, which are often manufactured in China and enter the country in the post.
Official figures published last week showed drug-related deaths in England and Wales have soared to a record high as a drugs tsar warned the arrival of synthetic opioids is a “catastrophic public health crisis”.
Mike Trace, CEO of the The Forward Trust and former Deputy Drugs Tsar, warned: “We cannot be behind the curve in our response to this new threat.”
A government spokesperson said it was “securing our borders from the threat” through “world-leading intelligence, dedicated cross-government taskforce and extensive international networks”.
