Emergency services on alert in Cork after eight synthetic drug overdoses
The HSE urges people not to experiment with new drugs or new batches sold in the Cork area. Picture: iStock
Medics and gardaí are on the alert after eight non-fatal overdoses linked to a synthetic drug were identified in Cork.
It comes after 57 such overdoses over a two-week period in Dublin last month, linked to a nitazene-type substance.
Toxicology and autopsy reports of drug users who died in Dublin during that period are also set to be analysed to establish if any fatalities are linked to the drug.
Posters with warnings to heroin users in Cork city are being erected in the city centre over the weekend, after the eight overdoses over a 36-hour period on Wednesday and Thursday.
Garda sources in Cork city have confirmed they are aware of the emergence of the substance in the city in recent days.
In its warning, the HSE said it “has been confirmed through analysis conducted by Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) that a trace amount of a nitazene-type substance has been identified in a light brown powder associated with Cork city overdoses”.
The statement said that “ongoing analysis is being conducted on the sample to identify the exact composition of the substance”.
The HSE is now urging people not to experiment with new drugs or new batches being sold on the drugs market in the Cork area.
Professor Eamon Keenan, the HSE’s national clinical lead for addiction services, said: “Preliminary laboratory analysis has confirmed that recent overdoses may be caused by nitazenes, a potent and dangerous synthetic opioid.
In September, six deaths which had gone to inquest in Northern Ireland were found to be linked with the presence of Nitazenes, with the first death having occurred in April 2022.
The HSE is urging people to access the Naloxone antidote which is available from addiction services in Cork city, and to avoid using drugs while alone.
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