Warning after six die from taking powerful heroin in Notts

A public health warning has been issued in Nottinghamshire after six people died in the county within a week after taking unusually powerful heroin.

The county’s director of public health Chris Kenny has warned that a batch of the drug being circulated was three times stronger than normal.

He said the six who died were part of a drug rehabilitation programme.

Potential users as well as hospitals, pharmacies, GPs and the police have all been made aware of the risk.

It is not yet know which parts of the county the six were from.

In a statement, Mr Kenny said: “Following the six drug-related deaths in Nottinghamshire recently, Crime Reduction Initiatives (the local service provider for drug misusers) is conducting an internal enquiry into all the possible causes in order to gain a better understanding of the situation.

“At this point it is not possible to exclude the risk of stronger/higher purity heroin.

“As such, CRI has contacted service users, staff and key stakeholders including pharmacies, the police, A&E departments, GPs and other local charities, alerting them of the situation and encouraging the communication of messages to minimise the harm when taking heroin.”

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