A super-strength street drug believed to be 25 times more potent than fentanyl has been detected in the ACT for the first time.
Chemists at Canberra's pill testing service, CanTEST, issued a red community notice on social media on Saturday after discovering the synthetic opioid N-pyrrolidino protonitazene (NPP) in a granular brown powder presented for checking.
"The material was unusual compared to what we often test," said CanTEST's clinical lead David Caldicott.
"Neither crystal, nor powder, but more the consistency of instant coffee granules. Quite unusual."
It's the first time CanTEST has issued such a notice this year, and only the fourth time since operations began in Civic in mid-2022.
"A red alert is something that we issue very rarely," explained Dr Caldicott.
ABClink.
as a former drug and alcohol professional I'm posting this as a public health warning.
but this also raises a very strong political point: the value of drug testing. the is a real public health need to have this service available to drug users in every city at the very least.
we've all read the horror stories of drug ODs. I've personally seen many different kinds of overdoses. many don't get anywhere near news headlines.
but this particular news above is very alarming. chemists have become much more numerous and illegal drug business is far more lucrative for every level of criminal conduct that experiments with new chemicals has become much more adventurous. the drug was first identified in Jan '23 by US authorities (LINK ) but Wiki gives a more useful description.
and now its here.
we can expect a rash of overdoses in the coming months because no testing or adequate information is available.
