A fatal drop: what do we know about the drugs, 500 times stronger than heroin, taking Australian lives?

Only a few years after first being detected in Australia, nitazenes have been found in everything from vapes to fake heroin – and the death toll is rising

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n the middle of winter last year, in a unit in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, Carly Morse, Thomas Vale, Michael Hodgkinson and Abdul El Sayed used a rolled-up bank note to inhale cocaine. About 3am on 24 June 2024, all four likely became unresponsive.

A fatal drop: what do we know about the drugs, 500 times stronger than heroin, taking Australian lives?

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