Synthetic opioids and a tranquilliser that have killed thousands of drug users in the US may be behind a rise of dozens of fatal overdoses in the West Midlands.
About 30 deaths over two months this summer are being examined for the involvement of the heroin substitute nitazenes and the sedative xylazine, Birmingham city council’s director of public health, Justin Varney, told the Guardian. Nitazenes are up to 100 times more powerful than heroin.
