Deadly nitazenes: a 2024 update

Abstract

In September 2024, deaths from drug overdose in the US fell for the first time since the opioid epidemic.1 But in England and Wales, drug related deaths increased in 2023 to the highest level since 1993,2 with just under half involving an opioid.3 In England, we have seen a sharp rise in deaths involving nitazenes, a group of potent synthetic opioids. These compounds are being found in street heroin and cocaine, seized powders, counterfeit …