‘Crisis on top of crisis’: Scotland faces threat from dangerous form of opioids, experts warn

Synthetic opioids such as nitazene, linked to more than 100 deaths, can be hundred times stronger than those used by addicts

Health experts have warned that Scotland faces a fresh drug deaths crisis due to highly potent synthetic opioids already linked to more than 100 fatalities.

The warning comes after the publication of official data which showed the total number of deaths from drug abuse in Scotland fell by 13% last year to a 1,017, the lowest annual figure since 2017.