Thirty-three people in the London Borough of Camden have now been taken ill after taking what they thought was heroin, according to the latest update from the Metropolitan Police, with 17 attending hospital. Earlier this week police were only aware of nine cases in the Camden area.
Police say they are continuing to investigate the incidents, alongside partners including Camden Council. ‘Officers are not aware of anyone in a life-threatening condition, however they continue to liaise with hospitals and other agencies,’ the update states. The council says it is working with local outreach teams to increase access to naloxone and other support, as well as issuing alerts to local healthcare and accommodation services.
‘We continue to work alongside our partners, including the local council and health professionals, to establish the full circumstances and identify everyone who has been affected,’ said detective chief inspector Chris Soole. ‘Analysis of substances recovered shows that what users believed to be heroin was in fact a dangerous synthetic opioid. It is clear that this remains in circulation, especially in the Camden area, and it causes an extreme reaction. In one of the most recent cases, just after 8pm on Wednesday evening, Met officers gave emergency first aid to a man in cardiac arrest in Haverstock Road, Camden. He had taken what he thought was heroin and it is likely that the actions of those officers saved his life. This is the fourth day of our response to this critical incident, and it is absolutely clear just how dangerous this substance really is.’
An alert was also recently issued by NHS Dumfries & Galloway in Scotland over a spate of ‘sudden collapse’ overdoses occurring immediately after injection.
Meanwhile, the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) has published its drug-related and drug misuse death figures for 2023. There were 169 deaths registered, it says – an increase of almost 50 per cent in a decade, but lower than the 2020 peak of 218. ‘It is important to note that registration-based figures build in delays arising from system-wide processes which can drive annual fluctuations in the series,’ the agency points out.
Unlike the rest of the UK – where the highest drug-death rates are among older people – the highest rate was in the 25-34 age group, says NISRA, with males accounting for around two thirds of the deaths.
As in previous years, the drug group mentioned most often was opioids. However, the most frequently mentioned specific drug was pregabalin – in 67 of the 169 registered deaths. Three quarters of deaths involved two or more substances, while the predominant drug mentioned in deaths involving only one drug was cocaine. ‘Drug-related and drug misuse deaths continue to be higher in areas of highest deprivation,’ NISRA states, with more than 60 of the deaths occurring in the Belfast local government district.
Drug-related and drug misuse deaths in Northern Ireland, 2023 available here