A “dangerously strong” batch of heroin is on sale in the region.
The NHS Specialist Drug and Alcohol Service became aware of it after “repeated medical interventions” in the Dumfries area.
A reminder has gone out to heroin users that naloxone kits are available from the drug and alcohol service at Lochfield Road in Dumfries and We Are With You on Buccleuch Street.
Public health medicine consultant Dr Andrew Carnon said: “In common with the rest of Scotland we’ve seen an increase in the number of deaths related to use of drugs in recent years.
“We try to do everything possible to reduce that toll, and one of the actions we take is informing people when there’s an indication there might be a particularly dangerous batch of drugs around.
“There was some intelligence that there may be a particularly strong batch of heroin in the area where even a small amount taken was leading to overdose and needing reversal with naloxone, which is the treatment that can reverse an overdose of an opiate like heroin.
