Synthetic opioids in the UK and Europe

[Pingu2]

Hey all,

I'm an ex-junkie born in the UK but living away for the past 10 years. I am writing an article that can help highlight the danger of what may be about to go down with synthetic opioids in Europe, as I am seeing very little in the press so far. I was wondering if any of you had encountered any in the past year or so?

The Taliban almost entirely shut down production of opium poppies in Afghanistan a couple of years ago, and it sounds like heroin stockpiles are dwindling. To me, this makes it inevitable that synthetic opioids flood the market in Europe in a similar way to the US and Canada. This would obviously be catastrophic.

Between June 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024 there were 179 recorded deaths in the UK alone from nitazenes, with the possibility of real numbers being much higher due to lack of proper testing. I believe it is possible that deaths from nitazenes and other synthetics have already increased significantly since then.

 

[Ismene2]

Yeah Ive had nitz instead of heroin twice now - very strong but Im not keen on thee high.

 

[Jnowhere]

Forget the zenes; what would happen if they started gradually cutting fentanyl and then more and more?
IV fentanyl use? What about tranq dope; could that hit Europe? If is, the deathtolls are going to be huge.

 

[Pingu2]

Yeah Ive had nitz instead of heroin twice now - very strong but Im not keen on thee high.

Do you know other people who have been given nitazenes when they wanted heroin?

Forget the zenes; what would happen if they started gradually cutting fentanyl and then more and more?
IV fentanyl use? What about tranq dope; could that hit Europe? If is, the deathtolls are going to be huge.

Nitazenes may actually be more dangerous than fentanyl !

 

[HealingEnergy14]

Hey all,

I'm an ex-junkie born in the UK but living away for the past 10 years. I am writing an article that can help highlight the danger of what may be about to go down with synthetic opioids in Europe, as I am seeing very little in the press so far. I was wondering if any of you had encountered any in the past year or so?

The Taliban almost entirely shut down production of opium poppies in Afghanistan a couple of years ago, and it sounds like heroin stockpiles are dwindling. To me, this makes it inevitable that synthetic opioids flood the market in Europe in a similar way to the US and Canada. This would obviously be catastrophic.

Between June 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024 there were 179 recorded deaths in the UK alone from nitazenes, with the possibility of real numbers being much higher due to lack of proper testing. I believe it is possible that deaths from nitazenes and other synthetics have already increased significantly since then.

You should write an article about SR-17018 and why no big pharmaceutical companies or governments have started to research the potential of this drug for helping people get off opioids!

With how bad the opioid crisis is in the US, around the whole world for that matter, we need research on how to help people get off opioids more easily.

Not all synthetic opioids are bad news.

 

[Pingu2]

You should write an article about SR-17018 and why no big pharmaceutical companies or governments have started to research the potential of this drug for helping people get off opioids!

With how bad the opioid crisis is in the US, around the whole world for that matter, we need research on how to help people get off opioids more easily.

Not all synthetic opioids are bad news.

Sounds interesting. Do you have any literature I could read on this?

 

[Jnowhere]

Do you know other people who have been given nitazenes when they wanted heroin?

Nitazenes may actually be more dangerous than fentanyl !

That remains to be seen. Do people actually seek out nitrazines? Fentanyl, attracts users once they have had, it most seem to only want it. Besides, there are more people in Europe.

I hope it doesn't happen, but if it does Europe is in for a nightmare. Then even worse, traq dope, if that also happens. Big trouble.

But then again apparently good speed( crsytal meth) isn't common, from what I have read. Maybe like Meth, fentanyl won't take over. But what happens when the stock piles of Heroin run out? Alternative source or alternative drug( Fentayl).

No, nitrazenes aren't populr in America or even around normally.

People in England bitch about nitrazenes, on here occasionally. I honest forget who( a few over almost 2 years)
But Fentanyl became very popular and hated. But almost all heroin addicts switched. Not much choice.
But if it does happen in England and Europe, it will be ugly.

 

[Pingu2]

That remains to be seen. Do people actually seek out nitrazines? Fentanyl, attracts users once they have had, it most seem to only want it. Besides, there are more people in Europe.

I hope it doesn't happen, but if it does Europe is in for a nightmare. Then even worse, traq dope, if that also happens. Big trouble.

But then again apparently good speed( crsytal meth) isn't common, from what I have read. Maybe like Meth, fentanyl won't take over. But what happens when the stock piles of Heroin run out? Alternative source or alternative drug( Fentayl).

No, nitrazenes aren't populr in America or even around normally.

People in England bitch about nitrazenes, on here occasionally. I honest forget who( a few over almost 2 years)
But Fentanyl became very popular and hated. But almost all heroin addicts switched. Not much choice.
But if it does happen in England and Europe, it will be ugly.

I guess though if the heroin supply from Afghanistan does stay cut off, nitazenes may be the next best option, unless distributors start bringing in fentanyl. I had heard of dealers getting battered by other smack dealers for selling fentanyl, but perhaps if there is no heroin left in the country most dealers will turn to selling fent.

Can anyone confirm the thing about dealers being beaten up for selling fent? And is the same thing happening for people selling smack laced with nitazenes?

 

[Mushoku_Sensei]

Unfortunately I can't test for nitazene myself, but according to @fairnymph, who's sadly not here anymore, most of the H available here is mixed with nitazenes. And I would say she knew what she was talking about.

 

[Pingu2]

Unfortunately I can't test for nitazene myself, but according to @fairnymph, who's sadly not here anymore, most of the H available here is mixed with nitazenes. And I would say she knew what she was talking about.

Any idea how long the H has been mixed with nitazenes for?

 

[Mushoku_Sensei]

Any idea how long the H has been mixed with nitazenes for?

Unfortunately not. But it must have been a few years already judging from her comments.

 

[Mushoku_Sensei]

Unfortunately I can't test for nitazene myself, but according to @fairnymph, who's sadly not here anymore, most of the H available here is mixed with nitazenes. And I would say she knew what she was talking about.

Jeez I'm dumb. I did test for nitazene and fent once before and it came out negative. I didn't have any of the symptoms she described either

 

[Jnowhere]

Hey all,

I'm an ex-junkie born in the UK but living away for the past 10 years. I am writing an article that can help highlight the danger of what may be about to go down with synthetic opioids in Europe, as I am seeing very little in the press so far. I was wondering if any of you had encountered any in the past year or so?

The Taliban almost entirely shut down production of opium poppies in Afghanistan a couple of years ago, and it sounds like heroin stockpiles are dwindling. To me, this makes it inevitable that synthetic opioids flood the market in Europe in a similar way to the US and Canada. This would obviously be catastrophic.

Between June 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024 there were 179 recorded deaths in the UK alone from nitazenes, with the possibility of real numbers being much higher due to lack of proper testing. I believe it is possible that deaths from nitazenes and other synthetics have already increased significantly since then.

In America the deathtoll from fentanyl was around 100,000( yes we have 5 times as many people, so do the math) during that period.

 

[4DQSAR]

I'm informed by my local HR agency that street H has been getting stronger for quite a few years now. Unsure if that's to stimulate the market or to stop nitazenes taking away their market.

I think it worth noting that 'nitazene' is just the nickname given to a class of compound. So who knows exactly what they have taken? I've read a few reports of people raving on about how great 'it is' and other reports saying 'it's awful' - in neither case did it seem like the person knew exactly what they had consumed.

I seem to recall a later paper suggesting that SR-17018 and related compounds might not be biased agonists but merely low effacacy ligands. After all, brorphine is a close relative and while in the original paper they noted it as the least 'biased', that might equally mean 'highest effacacy'. But I want to make it clear that I read the article years ago. I would LOVE SR-17018 to enable people to avoid the withdrawal caused by opioid dependence. IF it turns up in human trials, that would be great.

 

[Bleaney]

Yeah Ive had nitz instead of heroin twice now - very strong but Im not keen on thee high.

That is concerning, considering you've previously stated that you rarely buy or use heroin. Did you get it tested, or could you just tell that the effects weren't consistent with 'just heroin'?

 

[4DQSAR]

That is concerning, considering you've previously stated that you rarely buy or use heroin. Did you get it tested, or could you just tell that the effects weren't consistent with 'just heroin'?

Nitazene is just a name for a class of compound. There seems to be a couple of dozen related compounds turning up.

Unlike the USA, H is still available in the UK and is preferred by most. If someone came up with a synthetic that was BETTER than H or at the very least as good, then we may see more people actively seeking it. A few people are on record as seeking nitazenes, but it's a minority.

That someone was pressing fake benzos that contained nitazenes does sort of suggest that the sales were not as brisk as expected.

The last opioid that was considered as good as 'the real thing' was U-47700. But it's nowhere nearly as profitable. Yes, there are a couple of more potent analogues that never turned up, but even then they are only x23 M. Not the hundreds or thousands of times as potent as the synthetics that have become big deals.

As I keep pointing out, there are still a shed-load of scaffolds that haven't turned up... YET. But if I can read papers and patents, so can anyone else with an education in the field and there are a lot of us and not enough jobs, so it's entirely possible others will be keeping a list of alternatives.

 

[Jnowhere]

Nitazene is just a name for a class of compound. There seems to be a couple of dozen related compounds turning up.

Unlike the USA, H is still available in the UK and is preferred by most. If someone came up with a synthetic that was BETTER than H or at the very least as good, then we may see more people actively seeking it. A few people are on record as seeking nitazenes, but it's a minority.

That someone was pressing fake benzos that contained nitazenes does sort of suggest that the sales were not as brisk as expected.

The last opioid that was considered as good as 'the real thing' was U-47700. But it's nowhere nearly as profitable. Yes, there are a couple of more potent analogues that never turned up, but even then they are only x23 M. Not the hundreds or thousands of times as potent as the synthetics that have become big deals.

As I keep pointing out, there are still a shed-load of scaffolds that haven't turned up... YET. But if I can read papers and patents, so can anyone else with an education in the field and there are a lot of us and not enough jobs, so it's entirely possible others will be keeping a list of alternatives.

That can go both ways. What if the synthetic is worse. Look at fentanyl.
People who tried it seemed to like it.
The deathtoll in America is in the Hundreds of thousands from it.

It seems to me if someone found a synthetic that was like heroin or better; then it would already be out there and people would know about it.

Fentanyl and carfentanil, or if their are other similar analouges of it, could definitely end up becoming a thing in the UK.

If their isn't heroin coming from the place( Afghanistan)that 90%-93% came from then you will have a shortage. Columbia had some poppy growing areas but how much? Also Mexico, but that goes to the gringos in Estados Unidos.

The Golden Triangle doesn't produce that much. Especially after Khun Sa, the Pablo Escobar of Burma, disappeared and that trafficking is gone.
That valley in Lebanon doesn't produce much if any now.
There is some poppy growing in Kenya.

However the European demand for heroin will not be met by small time growing. No Afghanistan or the Golden Triangle. Something will take it's place and it seems that full synthetic will probably the answer for the greater population of heroin or former heroin users who are stuck switching to whatever drug replaces it.

 

[Bleaney]

I wonder what impact Trump's level of tarrifs on Chinese imports will have on the nitazenes and fent and it's analogues.

I understand that China is producing the precursors to these things and exporting them mostly to North or South America. I don't know if this is entirely legal, or completely illegal and black market.

If it is legal, and the tariffs mean the costs for importing these things is potentially going to rise 150% - 200% or more, then presumably at some point not too far away, it's no longer going to be profitable for organised crime groups to use these products in their drug manufacturing process. This could reverse the whole trend?

Who knows? Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

I still like to think that Trump is playing some kind of hard ball opening gambit in international trade negotiations with these tariffs. He's going to bankrupt companies, and crash national and global stock markets and economies, if he doesn't reverse or soften his position. I think many analysts think that he will offer concessions and deals, and the question is "when" not "if". Otherwise we'll have to wait until his term is over, or he gets thrown out of power by some extraordinary measures for wrecking the global economy.

I heard that roughly 100 years ago, the last time a U.S. president tried introducing global tariffs and sticking with them, the effects of the policy caused, or co-incided with, a prolonged economic depression and downturn. Surely Trump will be aware of this via his advisors, although he possibly is egotistical and narcissitic enough to think that the results will be different for him, and that the policy will be a winner for him, when it was a giant failure for his predecessor.

 

[Zopiclone bandit]

I wonder what impact Trump's level of tarrifs on Chinese imports will have on the nitazenes and fent and it's analogues

In the worst parts of Canada (such as Downtown Eastside) some kind of Elephant tranquilizer is getting big.

 

[Zopiclone bandit]

Hey all,

I'm an ex-junkie born in the UK but living away for the past 10 years. I am writing an article that can help highlight the danger of what may be about to go down with synthetic opioids in Europe, as I am seeing very little in the press so far. I was wondering if any of you had encountered any in the past year or so?

The Taliban almost entirely shut down production of opium poppies in Afghanistan a couple of years ago, and it sounds like heroin stockpiles are dwindling. To me, this makes it inevitable that synthetic opioids flood the market in Europe in a similar way to the US and Canada. This would obviously be catastrophic.

Between June 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024 there were 179 recorded deaths in the UK alone from nitazenes, with the possibility of real numbers being much higher due to lack of proper testing. I believe it is possible that deaths from nitazenes and other synthetics have already increased significantly since then.

BBC Radio 4 have had several broadcasts on this subject, they were on about the amount of deaths that have gone under the radar which may be from nitazenes as it won't show up after 48 hours, you send a dead body for a blood test & it'll be clean as that stuff has been 100% broken down by the body & for some reason won't show in the blood!!!!?????

Trust me if what you say does happen as in the Afghan #3 supply dries up fully the only people who will end up on Fent & other things like that are the proper "streeet junkies" that think nothing of drinking White Cider to wash down 2 grams of Pregabalin.

Fent etc work more like a tranquilizer & far removed from Proper Heroin, I don't know anyone who's had anything like those things & liked it, if my only option was Fent or nothing I would take nothing.

Fent has such a short window where it's active in a human, you won't have any of those long Summer evening gouge sessions or getting out the hair brush to have a good scratch.