Don’t stop the party: Recent nitazenes deaths in London expose gaps in nightlife drug safety
Once mainly a concern for heroin users, dangerous synthetic opioids have worked their way into the capital’s nightlife, with the
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Features
Policing addiction: Why Tower Hamlets is spending big on enforcement amid a synthetic opioid crisis
With overdose deaths rising and dangerous new synthetic opioids seeping into the drug supply, Tower Hamlets is investing nearly £1
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The lone crusader: Why Zoë Garbett is London’s only politician talking about nitazenes
Health officials say that nitazenes and synthetic opioids are of increasing concern in London, but only one politician is doing
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Emergency advice released for Tower Hamlets to battle the nitazene and synthetic opioid crisis
New guidance from the Government for local authorities to fight synthetic drug deaths says Tower Hamlets must expand harm reduction,
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Nitazenes expose dangerous gaps in GP, pharmacy, and medical training in Tower Hamlets
Despite escalating warnings about a new highly potent synthetic opioid, pharmacists, general practitioners, and club-goers in Tower Hamlets remain critically
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Disappearing nitazenes: How a lethal synthetic opioid is slipping through post-mortem tests
As Tower Hamlets grapples with one of London’s highest opiate usage rates, a hidden wave of nitazene-linked deaths is going
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Nitazenes and the dark web: I (almost) bought dangerous synthetic opioids from the comfort of my local coffee shop – and you can too!
Drug dealing has entered the digital age, with illegal online marketplaces disrupting local drug supplies. When the Taliban took control
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How to avoid nitazenes, the under-reported opioid finding its way into our drug supply
Knowledge and preparation are key to preventing unintentional addiction and overdose caused by nitazenes hidden in recreational drugs and counterfeit
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Nitazenes: Tower Hamlets rough sleepers report panic about new synthetic opioids hidden in drugs
A climate of fear has taken over Tower Hamlets’ community of rough sleepers, with nearly everyone saying they’ve lost friends
Read more![Orange silhouettes of a rough sleeper, disabled person and party-goer are shown over archive images of opioid dens in the Victorian times. Text overlay reads: "'There is a dark side behind the exotic colours, sounds and smells' 'The daughter of two heroin addicts [.] spoke a bizare form of pidgin jamaican-English' BBC, 2011."](https://whitechapellondon.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/04/nitazene-crisis-tower-hamlets-victorian-opium-dens-drug-user-types-800x445.jpg)
Nitazenes: History hasn’t prepared us for synthetic opioids
Nitazenes are up to five hundred times stronger than heroin, but the way we understand drug use hasn’t changed to
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The arrival of an invisible killer: Is Tower Hamlets ready for nitazenes?
Deadlier than heroin or fentanyl, nitazenes have arrived in Tower Hamlets. A new investigative series by the Slice asks, are
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A recipe for Tagine de Poulet by Nadiya Hussain
This Ramadan we share recipes from Nadiya Hussain’s cookbook, Rooza, including this delicious chicken tagine served with rice, onion and
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