POLICE PROBE THREE DEATHS IN 24 HOURS

Residents in shock after bodies found

POLICE are probing three deaths over the weekend which were reportedly drug-related.

Officers attended at one death in Lochee on Friday and two on Saturday, all of which are being treated as “unexplained” at present.

One local said: “This is such sad news. Drugs have become commonplace in Lochee.

“I knew two of these guys. One was found in either Ancrum Court or Burnside Court and the other in Kirk Street in the outdoor walk-ups, as they are known, behind Adamson and Elders Courts.”

He added: “There is a new thing that is doing the rounds called snowballing. It’s when you mix heroin with cocaine.

“Everyone in Lochee is talking about this and people have been told it’s pretty lethal.

“Those people using this combination can either smoke it or inject it. Either way it is very dangerous stuff.”

But Dundee-based North East Labour MSP Jenny Marra claimed the deaths may have been linked to Xanax – an anti-anxiety tablet from the benzodiazepine family of drugs.

She wrote on Twitter: “Three people died of drugs in Lochee this weekend after a load of Zanax (sic) arrived in Dundee on Friday. The human cost of this is unbearable.”

Police have not commented directly on her claims – and the Tele has been unable to verify them.

However, it is believed drug users are resorting to seeking out other “benzos” such as Xanax and lorezpam following a clampdown on the prescribing of diazepam – better known as Valium – in recent years.

Etizolam, also known as “street valium”, was implicated in 45 of the 66 drug-related deaths recorded in Dundee last year.

It is often used as a Valium substitute but can be several times stronger – to a fatal degree.

Experts have called for Valium to be prescribed more frequently to reduce benzo-related deaths.

A police spokeswoman previously said: “We are currently investigating three unexplained deaths in Dundee between Friday and Saturday.

“The cause of each death has yet to be fully established and there is nothing to suggest they are linked at this time.

“Inquiries continue into the circumstances.

“Reports have been submitted to the procurator fiscal.”

Elders Court, Lochee.