Heroin shortage could lead to more potent synthetic opioids
Report said the United Nations Office in Drugs and Crime published research this year estimating the production of opium, from which heroin in manufactured, fell by a colossal 95% in 2023. Picture: Getty
Ireland and other EU countries are being warned to prepare for a future heroin shortage and to have a plan in place if the market is filled by far more potent synthetic opioids.
The EU drugs agency also said cocaine seizures have reached record levels — for the sixth year in a row — and EU seizures now exceed those made in the US, historically regarded as the world’s largest cocaine market.
The European Drug Report 2024 also raises concerns at the increasing strength of cannabis resin as well as high-potency cannabis extracts and edibles, including jellies as well as the dangers posed by synthetic cannabinoids, the latter resulting in poisonings of children, including in Ireland.
On the risk posed by synthetic opioids, the report said Ireland and France had recently been hit with “localised poisoning outbreaks” and any large scale supply of these chemicals could result in “multiple poisonings” occurring over a short period, with the potential to “overwhelm” local services.
The group of synthetics opioids known as nitazenes — estimated to be hundreds of times more potent than heroin — suddenly emerged in Dublin and Cork at the end of last year and caused a total of 77 overdoses, including, it is thought, a number of fatalities.
Authorities believe it was all part of one batch and suspect it was an attempt by traffickers to test the market here.
“In Ireland, nitazenes were mis-sold as heroin, resulting in multiple overdoses and were also linked to overdoses in two prisons in 2024,” according to the EU report, published on Tuesday by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (Emcdda).
The report said the United Nations Office in Drugs and Crime published research this year estimating the production of opium, from which heroin in manufactured, fell by a colossal 95% in 2023.
It said because there appeared to be “substantial” stocks of opium in Afghanistan there has been little evidence of any disruption of heroin flows to Europe.
“However, there are concerns a future heroin shortage could lead to market gaps being filled by potent synthetic opioids or synthetic stimulants,” the report said.
“This could have potentially significant negative effects on public health and safety.”
It said it was too early to say if the ban on opium production issued by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, introduced in April 2022, would be sustained over time.
But it added: “It would be prudent to prepare for a possible heroin shortage in late 2024 or 2025.”
It urged countries to ensure they have sufficient drug treatment places available for people struggling with their opioid use and monitor the emergence of potent synthetic opioids, but also more established drugs, such as stimulants.
The agency called on member states to have a “multiagency rapid response plan”, including an effective communication system to alert at risk people and frontline services.
It said there was a wider risk beyond heroin users as synthetic opioids have been sold as, or in mixtures with, other substances.
“The population at risk is not necessarily restricted to those with a history of consuming opioids,” it said.
While the nitazene found in Ireland was in powder, sold as heroin, nitazenes have been found in tablets in the UK, raising the possibility a much wider drug-using market could unknowingly consume tablets containing them.
The Emcdda said a “critical requirement” was for countries to have adequate supplies on the heroin antidote naloxone are available to frontline workers, such as police, ambulance and low-threshold service providers.
The speedy response of the HSE to the nitazene outbreak is highlighted in the report and has been previously praised by agencies in the North and in Britain. It included the provision of naloxone, the setting-up of a multi-agency group, the rapid testing of samples and the issuing of red alerts to users.
The National Red Alert Group was set up, coordinated by the HSE and bringing together Forensic Science Ireland, the State Laboratory, the National Drug Treatment Centre, gardaí, National Ambulance Service and Dublin Fire Brigade, as well as academics.
As reported in the Irish Examiner last month, this group urged the Government to give political priority and resources to prepare for any future supply of synthetic opioids, It said the continued operation of this small team, set up on an emergency basis, was “not sustainable” into the future, the group said.
It said: “Significant work was required by a small Irish coordination group who adapted current roles to focus on the outbreaks.
“This approach will not be sustainable on a long-term basis, emphasising the need for political prioritization. Increased budget allocation should be provided to improve early warning mechanisms, to expand harm reduction and treatment responses and to enhance drug checking through a dedicated drug-monitoring laboratory.”
The EU report said six of the seven new synthetic opioids reported for the first time in 2023 to the EU Early Warning System were nitazenes — the highest ever number in a single year.
Elsewhere, the report points out for the sixth year in a row, record quantities of cocaine were seized in EU member states, with 323 tonnes confiscated in 2022, compared to 303 in 2021.
