‘Profound’ threat of lethal synthetic opioids is growing in Europe, officials warn

Super-strength synthetic opioids pose a growing threat to Europe and could have a “profound” impact on public health, officials at the European Union’s drugs monitoring agency have warned.

The Taliban crackdown on opium production in Afghanistan has raised fears that dwindling supplies could see the gaps in Europe’s illicit drug markets instead flooded with lethally potent synthetic opioids, known as nitazenes, which can be 500 times stronger than