Nitazenes: What are they and how long before they hit Queensland prisons?
Initially developed in the ’50s by pharmaceutical companies looking for a morphine substitute, nitazenes are a class of high-strength, synthetic opioids.
No longer commercially used due to their potency, the effects of nitazenes are hundreds of times stronger than heroin and fatal even in very small amounts.
Nitazenes have already been linked to an increasing number of overdoses and deaths in Australia this year and have been discovered in a range of drugs, including heroin, MDMA, ketamine, cocaine, and counterfeit pharmaceutical products.
Researchers, harm reduction experts and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) are now warning anyone taking any kind of illicit substance to be on high alert and to carry naloxone (a life-saving medication that can temporarily reverse an opioid overdose, including from nitazenes).
The recent concern about fatal opioid overdose from nitazenes in the illicit drug supply has also raised fears for many prison experts.
The CEO of the Australian Alcohol and Other Drugs Council, Ms Melanie Walker stated, “Nitazenes in prisons are a disaster waiting to happen. We know nitazenes are in the illicit drug supply in Australia, and it is only a matter of time before they enter prisons.”
The Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care recommends that naloxone be administered to anyone overdosing from opioids. However, naloxone is not readily available in prisons in Australia and is generally only administered by healthcare staff. As noted by Ms Walker, this severely limits access for people who need it when they need it.
People who are in prison are not afforded the same protections as people in the community, and the period immediately following release is an extremely vulnerable time in which many people experience fatal overdoses.
A coalition of health practitioners, harm reduction advocates, and experts from around the country are calling for expanded access to naloxone in prisons to protect against fatal overdoses from nitazenes and other synthetic opioids.
They warn, health staff in prisons are often not available or accessible to inmates or to save lives, and it is crucial to find ways to provide naloxone to prisoners when needed. A significant step all prisons could take is to ensure that custodial officers have easy access to naloxone and are trained to recognise and respond to overdoses. In Australia, many police officers now routinely carry and administer naloxone, and custodial officers should receive similar training.
The period following release from prison is an especially high-risk time for overdose, with opioid overdose deaths up to twenty times higher for people leaving prison than for the general population. However, the availability of naloxone and training for those exiting prison is inconsistent across states and territories. Providing naloxone and training to inmates before their release is a vital strategy to prevent overdose deaths.