U.K. cracks down on synthetic opioid 10 times stronger than fentanyl causing overdoses in Europe

London — As authorities clamp down on fentanyl distribution and the amount of heroin produced in Afghanistan decreases under the Taliban, criminal enterprises have turned to a deadly alternative. Some health agencies in Europe are reporting a rise in deaths and overdoses from a type of synthetic opioid that can reportedly be hundreds of times stronger than heroin and up to forty times stronger than fentanyl.

2-Benzyl Benzimidazole opioids, commonly known as nitazines, are a class of synthetic compound developed in the 1950s as painkillers, but which were never approved for use as medicines.

Because of their potency, compared with natural opioids such as heroin or morphine, they can be much more addictive and more dangerous. Nitazines have been linked to a significantly greater proportion of overdose deaths in Estonia and Lithuania, and have been linked to overdoses in Ireland and on the French island of La Réunion.