‘100 times more powerful than heroin and its use is increasing’

Up to 100 times more powerful than heroin, fentanyl is developing something of a reputation in the UK - and generating plenty of headlines for the deaths it is responsible for.

Used medically for major pain relief, it can be incredibly addictive.

Last year, the National Crime Agency said 60 people in the UK had died in relation to the drug in the space of just eight months.

The painkiller is a synthetic opioid - meaning it increases the presence of feel-good chemicals when taken.

Fentanyl is used in hospitals to treat cancer patients but in recent years it has found its way onto UK streets where it is used to cut heroin.

Alex Stevens, a professor in criminal justice at the University of Kent, says the drug can lead to suffocation.

“It’s an incredibly dangerous drug when used wrongly,” he said. “Once it is taken, the effects follow very quickly. If too much is taken then you can lose consciousness and breathing will stop. The person can die from suffocation.

“It’s an extremely potent opioid which kills more quickly than heroin - by a rule of thumb, it is 100 times more powerful than that.

”Thankfully it is no where near as common over here as in North America but there has been a sharp increase in its use.”