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Euronews
Euronews
Evi Kiorri

Synthetic opioids: can Europe keep up with a new drug created every week?

A new psychoactive substance appears on Europe's drug market about once a week. EU officials say synthetic opioids pose a risk so acute that a single gram can contain several thousand lethal doses.

The warning comes from the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA), which published its 2026 European Drug Report on 9 June. The report found 50 new drugs detected for the first time across Europe in 2025 alone, many synthetic opioids and cathinones.

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