Fears over deadly new synthetic drug called Nitazenes, far more potent than fentanyl and heroin

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Fears over deadly new synthetic ***** called Nitazenes, far more potent than fentanyl and *******

A deadly synthetic ***** up to 500 times more potent than ******* has arrived in WA, with some users ending up in hospital in intensive care.

The Sunday Times can reveal that in the past 18 months in WA there have been at least three cases of people overdosing on deadly synthetic opioid drugs called nitazenes — and some required intensive care treatment.

Nitazenes — usually sold in a powder or tablet form — have become such a major concern to health authorities around the world that the ******* Nations Office on Drugs and ****** made numerous references to them in a report last month.

The UN report stated nitazenes were “increasingly posing major health risks in some countries”.

“Some nitazenes are more potent than fentanyl and have led to fatal outcomes in a number of countries,” the report said.

The report also warned nitazenes were being sold or mixed with other substances such as other opioids, benzodiazepines and synthetic cannabinoids.

Royal Perth Hospital emergency physician and clinical toxicologist Jessamine Soderstrom told The Sunday Times that as of December last year there had been at least 22 cases of people presenting at hospitals nationwide with nitazenes in their system.

Dr Soderstrom said the three people who needed intensive medical treatment in WA “became really unwell”.

“Some of them actually required intensive care treatment for a number of days,” she said, adding it was likely the three WA overdose cases were “accidental” and the people probably thought they were taking another *****.

“I think in Western Australia it seems to be accidental so they don’t know, or they weren’t intentionally ingesting nitazenes, they thought they were using *******,” Dr Soderstrom said.

“In an unregulated market . . . you just don’t know what it that you are ingesting.”

The up-to-date data around nitazenes has been made possible via a new ***** surveillance program called Emerging Drugs Network of Australia, or EDNA.

EDNA — a project conceived out of Royal Perth Hospital and which has since spread across the nation — aims to collect up-to-date and objective data about the drugs causing harm in the community.

Camera IconRPH Clinical Toxicologist Jessamine Soderstrom. Credit: Steve Ferrier/The West ***********

Mental Health Commissioner of WA Maureen Lewis said nitazenes were “more potent and may be longer-acting than many other opioids”.

She said Naloxone, a medication that temporarily reverses the effects of opioid overdose, could reverse the effects of nitazenes — but multiple doses may be needed.

“Nitazenes can be up to 500 times more potent than *******, so multiple doses of naloxone may be required to reverse a nitazene overdose,” Ms Lewis said.

Health authorities in NSW have become so alarmed by the usage of nitazenes in recent weeks they issued a Statewide alert about the ***** and the dangers it poses.

On May 29, NSW health officials issued a statement saying nitazenes had led to the hospitalisation of four people across Sydney.

NSW Health chief addiction medicine specialist Kate Conigrave said the drugs were “extremely dangerous.”

“Nitazenes are extremely potent and can vary widely in their strength,” Dr Conigrave said.

“As they are illicit and unregulated, there is no way of knowing what type of nitazene is present or what dosage is being taken. The strength and contents can vary widely, even within the same batch.”

According to the Alcohol and ***** Foundation, nitazenes were developed by researchers about 60 years ago as an alternative to morphine.

But because of their high potential for overdose, they were never released or approved.

“Nitazenes have been connected to a number of overdose deaths worldwide,” its website states.

In May, the *********** Federal Police and *********** Border Force warned about a rise in attempted imports of nitazenes.

The two agencies seized 742 tablets of metonitazene from 22 packages sent to Australia via mail cargo from the *** in October 2023.

The same month, police charged a

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