The dangers of new super strength street drugs are made clear today as new figures on fatalities are published.
A total of seven people have died in York from synthetic opioids, a report says.
Synthetic opioids, including Nitazenes, can be far stronger than heroin, experts say.
They have been linked to at least 100 deaths nationally. YorkMix reported in January how two men found dead in York were thought to be the city’s first victims of Nitazenes.
A report to the City of York Council health and wellbeing board says: “We are continuing to monitor with our North Yorkshire Council and Police partners the national position and trends on synthetic opioids, which have been linked to at least 100 deaths nationally – we know that at least 7 of these have been in York.”
The council says it is reviewing its drug and alcohol related death action plan, “including the effectiveness of our local drug information system protocol for North Yorkshire and York, which is our agreed method to assess and communicate known and/or potential risks from purity/contamination of illicit drug supplies in circulation”.

The report adds: “To share some good news, Naloxone nasal spray, which can reverse the effects of opioid overdose, has been issued to more than 250 frontline police officers across North Yorkshire and York.”
Assistant Chief Constable Catherine Clarke, of North Yorkshire Police, said: “Naloxone is the emergency antidote used to reverse the effects of opioid overdose.
“If administered within 15 minutes, Naloxone can restore normal breathing to a person if it has slowed or stopped.
“The main cause of premature death among people who use drugs in the UK is drug overdose.
“Many of the reported deaths could potentially have been avoided if Naloxone had been administered, which buys more time for medical intervention by ambulance and hospital teams.
“This really is a life saver.”