Warning after new deadly heroin mixed with Frankenstein drugs flood Scots streets
One drug user in Ayrshire needed 13 doses of lifesaving drug naloxone to revive them
GREEN & RED ALERT Warning after new deadly heroin mixed with Frankenstein drugs flood Scots streets
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DEADLY green and red heroin mixed with Frankenstein drugs that cause users to instantly collapse are flooding Scotland, we can reveal.
Greedy dealers across the country are cutting their heroin with the lethal synthetic opioids fentanyl and nitazenes to devastating effect.
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Public Health Scotland say it has contributed to 251 deaths between last December and February
Credit: Getty
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In 52 of 200 alerts to PHS, deals had caused 'instant blackouts' from small doses
Credit: Getty
The coloured variants emerged as a shocking report reveals drug- related deaths rocketed by 17 per cent in three months.
Red heroin, containing nitazenes, cause people to keel over immediately, while the green version — laced with fentanyl and citric acid — is driving a rapid rise in overdoses.
Public Health Scotland say the super-strength drugs have contributed to 251 deaths between last December and February.
Green heroin, with the street names 'fly' or 'man down', was specifically mentioned in 15 overdose reports while red heroin featured in seven.
Scotland keeps promising to protect its most vulnerable. Instead it's throwing them to the wolves.
Annemarie Ward
In 52 of 200 alerts to PHS, deals had caused 'instant blackouts' from small doses.
Annemarie Ward, of Faces and Voices of Recovery, said: 'I'm shocked.
'I don't think I've ever seen anything like it.
'It's scary how quickly this stuff is happening. It seems everything we have feared about fentanyl is coming true.
'If nearly half the drug supply is fake or contaminated, why is there still this push for harm reduction rather than actually helping people get well? They're not being offered an actual place to get help, to recover, to get off drugs.
'We've normalised the system where people are abandoned.
I opened cupboard in my new council flat and shower of 150 used HEROIN needles fell out - I'm scared my baby's infected
'Scotland keeps promising to protect its most vulnerable. Instead it's throwing them to the wolves.'
One drug user in Ayrshire needed 13 doses of lifesaving drug naloxone to revive them after taking the coloured heroin, it has emerged.
Dr Tara Shivaji, consultant in Public Health Medicine at PHS, said: 'We are very concerned about the presence of synthetic drugs like nitazenes within the unregulated drugs market across Scotland.
'Nitazenes are potent opioid drugs which can be many times stronger than heroin. Taking even a small amount carries an increased risk of overdose or death.
'There are ways to reduce the risk of overdose when taking some drugs, but there is no safe way to take nitazenes.'
Scottish Tory drugs spokeswoman Annie Wells said: 'SNP ministers are still shamefully failing to get a grip on the lethal substances that are causing misery.'
Health Secretary Neil Gray said: 'We are determined to continue our efforts to reduce harm and deaths.
'My condolences go to anyone who has lost a loved one.'
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