Mardi Gras warning: Fears revellers could take pills laced with drug 50 times stronger than heroin

Urgent Mardi Gras warning: Fears revellers could take pills laced with drug 50 times stronger than HEROIN

  • Officials have warned revellers of fentanyl-laced drugs being sold at Mardi Gras
  • People were hospitaised from the drug after thinking they had taken non opioids 
  • Fentanyl has caused thousands of deaths in the United States’ opioid crisis
  • It is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine

Health officials have issued a warning to Mardi Gras revellers to be wary of dangerous, laced drugs that are being sold on SYdney’s streets.

People enjoying Mardi Gras festivities in Sydney this weekend have been urged to be careful after several people were hospitalised from taking drugs contaminated with fentanyl.

Fentanyl is an opioid used for pain relief and is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine. 

People have become ill after ingesting the substance, believing they were taking MDMA or cocaine.

Health officials have warned Mardi Gras revellers about fentanyl-laced drugs being sold in Sydney over the weekend. Pictured: dancers in the 2019 Mardi Gras parade

‘If someone had done this thinking they had cocaine and gone into a toilet stall, they may not leave the toilet,’ Prince Alfred Hospital’s director of clinical toxicology Professor Andrew Dawson told Radio National.

Health authorities are particularly worried after finding traces of fentanyl in non-opioid drugs, as users would be unaware of what they were taking.

‘These are people that are not expecting to use an opioid or a depressant substance and presumably have absolutely no tolerance, so the risk of overdose is even higher,’ Uniting Medically Supervised Injecting Centre medical director Dr Marianne Jauncey said.

Fentanyl has caused thousands of deaths in the United States, with the country in the grips of an opioid crisis.

Fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine (stock image)

Fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine (stock image)

A fentanyl overdose is treated with a drug called naloxone which can help the brain absorb the opioids and temporarily reverse overdose symptoms.

Authorities believe there is a high likelihood that fentanyl-laced drugs are still being sold in Sydney and are nervous for party goers over the Mardi Gras weekend.  

The New South Wales Users and Aids Association has been putting out alerts on social media as well as giving out fentanyl testing urine strips to those at risk.

Dr Jauncey said the goal of the operation is to stop people dying.

‘Our goal is to make sure that nobody gets that later hours phone call late at night from the police saying “I’m sorry to have to inform you”,’ she said.

Health officials believe there is a high likelihood that fentanyl-laced drugs are still being sold in Sydney and are nervous for party goers this weekend. Pictured: revellers celebrate in the 2019 Mardi Gras parade

Health officials believe there is a high likelihood that fentanyl-laced drugs are still being sold in Sydney and are nervous for party goers this weekend. Pictured: revellers celebrate in the 2019 Mardi Gras parade

WHAT IS FENTANYL?

Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid which is used to treat pain and in pallative care.

Fentanyl has caused thousands of deaths in the United States, with the country in the grips of an opioid crisis.

New data from the University of Rochester has estimated that more than 450,000 people in the US have died from an opioid overdose since 1999.

A fentanyl overdose is treated with a drug called naloxone which can help the brain absorb the opioids and temporarily reverse overdose symptoms.

Source: New Scientist 

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