Canberra's drug checking site Cantest has raised a red alert over counterfeit oxycodone pills, uncovering a synthetic version that’s 100 times more potent than fentanyl. This critical warning follows a troubling rise in overdose deaths, highlighting the urgent need for vigilance and action.
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00:00Potentially, a poison pill.
00:04It clearly has the capacity to kill a consumer.
00:08Sold illegally on the dark web as oxycodone, this pill instead contained a drug group called
00:13nitazines.
00:15The one detected in Canberra is 100 times stronger than fentanyl and 1,000 times stronger
00:20than morphine.
00:21This is a particular drug that we would think that nobody ever should choose to use.
00:27More people have died from drug overdoses in the ACT in the last two months.
00:31The exact substances involved are still being established, but ACT police suspect high drug
00:37purity levels or the addition of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl or nitazine may be
00:42responsible.
00:43CanTest has seen an uptick in testing in recent weeks.
00:46Though nitazines are relatively uncommon, their detection has increased around Australia.
00:52After first appearing in 2022, public health warnings for nitazines have been issued in
00:57the ACT, New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland and Victoria.
01:02The drug has also shown up in testing in WA and the Northern Territory.
01:06We have now recorded a number of deaths in both Victoria and New South Wales related
01:12to a range of nitazines.
01:15First developed in the 1950s but never cleared for medical use, drug criminal syndicates
01:20have revisited the chemistry to synthesise nitazines for sale on the illicit market.
01:25They might unknowingly think they're taking MDMA or some other drug and are cocaine and
01:35maybe nitazines in it that are highly toxic.
01:37CanTest says all drug users should carry naloxone nasal spray, which can reverse opioid overdoses.