There are renewed calls for the state government to introduce drug testing services, after a new class of highly potent, synthetic opioids were detected in Australia. Health experts are warning an influx of the contaminated drugs could lead to a massive rise in overdose deaths.
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00:00 Former heroin user Mark has seen first hand how dangerous tainted drugs can be, after
00:07 watching a friend almost die from taking cocaine purchased on the dark web.
00:11 By the time I got there she had blue lips, she was about to overdose, I believe that
00:18 it had fentanyl in it for sure.
00:21 It was a close call he says that could have been avoided.
00:24 If she could have gone somewhere and got it checked, well she probably wouldn't have sniffed
00:30 some.
00:30 Calls for drug testing aren't new, most recently following a space of overdoses at Melbourne
00:35 festivals. What is new is a type of synthetic opioids called Nisizines, now being found
00:41 in Australia.
00:43 There are over 500 overdoses in general in Victoria per year, and so if these synthetic
00:50 opioids take hold in our market that will skyrocket.
00:53 Up to 50 times stronger than fentanyl and up to 500 times stronger than heroin, Nisizines
00:59 have swept through the US and UK.
01:01 Once these very potent opioids dominate the drug market there's been a very rapid escalation
01:07 in deaths over there.
01:08 In Victoria there have been at least 16 fatal overdoses involving Nisizines since the start
01:14 of 2021. In that time the state's coroners have recommended drug testing programs be
01:19 introduced five times.
01:21 It's very easy to recognise these drugs if you're able to take your drugs to a drug checking
01:26 service.
01:27 But experts also believe more needs to be done, including the decriminalisation of drugs,
01:32 increased access to naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of opioids, and more
01:37 medically supervised injecting rooms.
01:40 If we upscale overdose prevention strategies we will save lives whether or not we have
01:44 Nisizines arrive.
01:45 The government says it has no current plans to trial drug checking.
01:49 [BLANK_AUDIO]