Australia: Experts warn of influx of synthetic opioids amid calls for second Melbourne injecting room

Use of deadly nitazines is on the rise in Australia and a suite of measures is needed to prevent more fatalities, former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark says.

Health experts are warning of the looming threat of strong synthetic opioids called nitazenes among Australian drug users, as former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark said there was an urgent need for a second safe-injecting room in Melbourne.

Referring to the long-mooted facility, Clark, who is the chair of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, said: “The bottom line is that people that are using drugs need to be safe.

“And that’s why a centre is so important … I hope it will go ahead. The first one is clearly highly successful,” she said.

Speaking at the World Health Summit regional meeting, Clark said there was a need for drug decriminalisation, public drug-testing facilities and safe-injecting sites to get ahead of what was described as the imminent threat posed by synthetic opioids, which are already causing an epidemic of drug fatalities in North America.

Strong synthetic opioids called nitazenes have already been identified in the ACT, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. Certain nitazenes can be from 10 to 100 times more potent than fentanyl, which is also a powerful synthetic opioid.