'We have launched a drug strategy which is about prevention, treatment and diversion'
GMP is to launch a pilot scheme in which officers would carry an 'antidote' to super-strength drugs containing nitazenes, which have been linked to 100 deaths across the UK since last summer.
And now it can be revealed that Greater Manchester Police is expected to launch a pilot aimed at saving lives. It is feared the substances may be bought and consumed unwittingly by people who think they are purchasing prescription drugs like diazepam from suppliers in countries such as China. One heroin user, who spoke to the Manchester Evening News anonymously, told us he feared he had inadvertently taken it recently.
Harry's mother, Amy Durose, said she believed her son had unknowingly taken the drug after buying items he believed to be diazepam on the black market, having previously been prescribed diazepam to treat a chronic joint condition. He added: "We are seeing a lot of cannabis coming in from North America, where it is legal to buy in some parts, and the Netherlands for the same reason. An emerging area is Thailand. China is more your prescription medication - and the threat of synthetic opioids."
Nitazenes were first developed in the 1950s, but never approved for sale. Their re-emergence has been put down to China's crackdown on fentanyl, a synthetic opioid estimated to have caused 75,000 deaths in the US in 2022, and problems with heroin supplies caused by the Taliban's ban on harvesting opium poppies in Afghanistan.
"We're not saying it's not out there, we just haven't detected it," he said. "If it's in other parts of the UK, it's likely to be somewhere within the wider supply. The pragmatic approach is to make sure the people who might be exposed to it that they are at least offered the chance to test their heroin.
"We could get 20 deaths tomorrow. Anyone who tells you they know what's going to happen is not telling the truth. We have to plan for the worst, so we are planning for adulterants in heroin and for nitazene to be substituted for heroin. That's our worst fear. "It's in town now," he said. "People 'round the gardens are worried about it because you can't tell until you've had it. It's horrible. It makes your heart start beating too fast. You feel sick. You feel like you're overdosing straight away. It's too strong."
"They just posted it to him and nobody had any idea," said Ms Durose. "I just wish he had told me. He was very clued up on prescription drugs. If he had known these nitazenes existed, he would not have risked it." "There are different risks," he went on. "If you avoid that face to face conversation with a criminal you don't know what you are getting. You are still giving your address, credit card details to international criminals - so you are leaving yourself open to being a victim of other types of crime."
Speaking back in April, then-Home Secretary James Cleverly said: "We are highly alert to the threat from synthetic drugs and have been taking a range of preventative action, learning from experiences around the globe, to keep these vile drugs off our streets. Placing these toxic drugs under the strictest controls sends a clear message that the consequences for peddling them will be severe.
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