Scientists have issued an urgent warning to festivalgoers over a terrifying new drug that is sweeping the country.
Nitazenes are ultra-powerful synthetic opioids, similar to fentanyl, which can be up to 500 times stronger than heroin.
Even a tiny dose can be enough to trigger fatal overdoses – with two people killed in the UK this week alone.
Now, ahead of the summer festival season, experts warn that the deadly drug poses a ‘huge public health risk’.
Originally used by criminals to supercharge weak heroin, nitazenes are now being cut into common party drugs and even pharmaceuticals.
Speaking to MailOnline, experts have raised concerns that musical festivals will be unable to keep attendees from accidentally taking these deadly drugs.
Dr Adam Holland, co-chair of the Faculty of Public Health Drugs Special Interest Group, told MailOnline: ‘We haven’t been able to keep drugs out of prisons, so we’re certainly not going to be able to keep drugs out of festivals.
‘If you’re going to take unregulated drugs, we strongly recommend testing them to ensure you’re taking what you think you’re taking.’
Scientists have issued an urgent warning to festivalgoers over a terrifying new drug believed to have killed two clubbers this week who took pills laced with the substance (pictured)
Nitazenes are a synthetic opioid up to 500 times stronger than heroin which has killed hundreds of Britons in the last two years. The deadly drug is now being cut into common party drugs and even prescription medications such as pills claiming to be oxycodone (pictured)
What are nitazenes?
Nitazenes are a group of chemicals originally developed as painkillers in the 1950s that were never licenced to be used as medicines.
They are a type of drug called ‘synthetic opioids’ which means they were made in a lab but work on the same receptors in the brain as natural drugs like heroin and opium.
However, the big difference between nitazenes and heroin is that the synthetic variants are significantly stronger and much more deadly.
Even the weakest type of nitazene is about as strong as fentanyl, with the most potent being about 100 times stronger.
This is a major problem for drug users because they have no way of knowing which types of nitazenes are in their drugs, making accidental overdoses much more likely.
Dr Holland says: ‘Most nitazenes are extremely dangerous. You only need to consume a tiny amount of these drugs to fatally overdose, and they could be found in a range of substances.’
This week, a man, 28, and a woman, 20, allegedly overdosed after taking pills containing nitazenes after visiting a nightclub in south London.
Nitazenes were developed as painkillers in the 1950s but were never approved to become medicines because they are highly dangerous and extremely unpredictable. Pictured: A researcher holds a nitazene sample
Dylan Rocha, 21, (pictured) a promising musician, died after overdosing on heroin that is believed to have been mixed with nitazenes
Authorities believe that the pills were sold as ‘oxycodone’, a powerful prescription painkiller often used by clubbers to help fall asleep after taking other drugs.
Recently, nitazenes have spread wildly through the UK drug market, leading some experts to warn of a ‘second wave for the UK drug-related death crisis‘.
In the last two years, 485 people have died after using nitazenes and the official figures show a rapid increase.
Of those deaths, 333 took place in 2024 alone – a 166 per cent increase on previous years.
Additionally, Dr Holland says this is ‘certainly an underestimate’ of the true figure as monitoring systems try to catch up with new drugs.
What should festivalgoers look out for?
With major festivals such as Glastonbury and Download rapidly approaching, there are now serious concerns that nitazenes could lead to a spike in deaths.
The problem is that nitazenes are increasingly being cut into common party drugs and sold to unsuspecting users.
As festival season approaches, experts have warned that pills claimed to be Valium, Xanax, Oxycodone and Oxycontin could be laced with nitazenes. Pictured: Glastonbury Festival 2023
Drug testing service WEDINOS has found nitazenes in drugs packaged to look like prescription medication, such as this ‘Valium’ tablet
Fake pills sold online, such as this counterfeit diazepam (Valium) tablet, have been found to contain the super-strength drug
Even more worryingly, dealers are increasingly selling products containing nitazenes which have been repackaged in blister packs to look like prescription medication.
Dr Holland says: ‘In terms of nitazenes, most people using drugs in festivals and nightlife settings would be at the greatest risk from drugs purchased as benzodiazepines – like Valium or Xanax – or opioids, which they might be taking at the end of the night to come down, or to help them sleep.’
MailOnline analysis of data from the UK’s only drug testing facility WEDINOS has revealed that two-thirds of samples that contained nitazenes were supposed to be legal medications that could be purchased legally.
Two-thirds of those ‘legal’ drugs containing nitazenes were purchased by people trying to buy Valium.
Why are festivals more dangerous this year?
This public health risk may be even higher this year because the government is still restricting access to testing services.
Currently, the Home Office is allowing licenced ‘back-of-house’ testing at festivals.
This means drug-testing services such as The Loop, the only licenced festival drug testing service, can test surrendered or confiscated drugs and issue warnings if anything dangerous is found.
Experts warn that a ban on ‘front-of-house’ drug testing services at festivals means people won’t be able to know whether their drugs contain nitazenes, leading to an increase in overdoses
Katy Porter, CEO at The Loop, told MailOnline: ‘The deaths in London, following a night out clubbing, have demonstrated the increasing and wider risk of exposure to nitazenes.
‘Drug checking, accessible to the public, can identify substances of concern in circulation alongside purchase intent, and importantly communicate risk directly to an individual, and assisting in the prevention of overdose.’
However, experts say the Government is putting lives at risk by maintaining a ban on ‘front-of-house’ drug checking.
These services would allow users to hand over a sample of their drugs to be tested and receive information about what it contains and in what purity.
This service was entirely legal until 2023 when the Conservative-led Home Office suddenly moved to block festivals from testing drugs.
In light of this, experts warn that authorities should be ready to deal with a higher number of potentially fatal overdoses.
Dr Holland says: ‘Whatever you think about drugs, a significant proportion of the population is always going to use them – evidence suggests that drug checking prevents the use of dangerous drugs like nitazenes.
‘The Government is currently preventing drug checking services from being offered in festivals, which is counterproductive, and likely to increase the risk of incidents in the coming festival season.’
Illegal drugs, such as this ‘Iranian Gucci Heroin’ also contained nitazenes. This sample had heroin mixed with protonitazene, which is 200 times more potent than heroin
A man in Manchester clings to a public bench after seemingly having taken the synthetic drug which is sweeping the UK
Likewise, Dr Kars de Bruijne, senior research fellow at the Clingendael Institute, told MailOnline: ‘Whether there is a festival or not, Nitazenes are available on the streets and pose huge public health risks.
‘It is advisable that there is general preparedness by authorities to respond to cases of overdosing and support with proper treatment.’
A Government spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘The Policing Minister and Minister for Public Health and Prevention have already written to festival organisers highlighting the serious threat posed by synthetic opioids and other drugs.
‘They urged festival organisers and Police Crime Commissioners to work closely with health partners to ensure naloxone, which reverses the effect of an opioid overdose, is readily available.
The spokesperson added that ‘confiscated and surrendered drugs will continue to be tested at music festivals to identify toxic substances in circulation, and help prevent drug-related overdoses.’
However, the Government maintains that it will not licence a testing service that offers ‘personalised results’ to users and adds that offering testing without a licence may be considered an offence.
Why are nitazenes now such a problem for the UK?
The sudden rise in popularity is largely down to nitazenes’ low cost and high strength.
The rise in nitazene use follows the Taliban’s crackdown on opium poppy farming in Afghanistan which has sent cartels scrambling to find synthetic alternatives to heroin
Coming in either a liquid or powder form they are easy to bulk out with other substances to create low-cost drugs with an extremely high profit margin.
Dr de Bruijne says: ‘The reason that dealers could try nitazenes – despite them being extremely dangerous – is that they are highly addictive and thus generate demand and in very tiny amounts can be consumed without leading to an overdose.’
However, the real boost for nitazenes came after the Taliban regained control in Afghanistan following the removal of American troops.
The Taliban have cracked down on farmers growing opium poppies – the precursor for heroin – crippling the world’s supply of the drug.
Prior to the pandemic a kilo of heroin sold for roughly £16,000, but that has now jumped to around £26,000 per kilo, according to anecdotal reports.
Meanwhile, the average purity of heroin on the streets has dropped to between 10 and 20 per cent in 2024 compared to 45 per cent in 2022.
Dr de Bruijne says this has pushed organised crime groups to seek out synthetic alternatives such as nitazenes.
Being so potent, nitazenes can also be moved across borders in smaller volumes before being diluted for sale which has made it hard to stop their spread.
Experts believe that the nitazene-laced drug ‘kush’ is primarily imported from European countries such as the Netherlands and the UK into West Africa. However, it is not clear where the UK’s supply of nitazenes is produced
Current research suggests that the nitazene-containing drug ‘kush’ is being imported to West Africa via the UK and Europe in large quantities.
However, it isn’t yet clear where the nitazenes in the UK are coming from.
Dr de Bruijne says: ‘The simple answer is that we don’t know if they are produced in the UK or Europe
‘There is known production of Nitazenes in China. But there are indications that some of the mixture might happen in Western Europe or the UK and there are rumours about potential production of Nitazenes in Western Europe too.’
