Colchester drug deaths: heroin made 'thousand times more dangerous'

Three people have died and a fourth person was left seriously ill following a spate of drug-related incidents in Colchester over the past five days.

Police have charged two men in relation to drug dealing offences and arrested a third.

Joni Thompson of Open Road, which is a drugs charity which supports users and recovering addicts, said synthetic opioids are making heroin 5,000 times more lethal.

Vital – the Open Road charity provides a vital service for those with drug dependencies (Image: Newsquest)

She said: “What we are seeing is a lot of heroin being purchased which is being laced with synthetic opioid.

“There are a lot of synthetic opioids flooding the market which are up to five thousand times more potent than normal heroin.

“Drug users may know their tolerance for heroin, but what they risk doing is taking a drug more potent than what they body is used to.”

Mrs Thompson, who is Open Road’s clinical and business development director and has worked for the charity for 17 years, said the drugs will be sent to laboratories for further testing.

She added: “The police will send them away – that intel can be looked at and people can say ‘that batch has come from a certain location or county lines’.

“Every time somebody takes an illicit substance, there is a risk, because we never know what’s in that – when it comes to street drugs, you just don’t know what that is.

“That risk is increased because we are seeing heroin laced with this synthetic opioid.”

People who are struggling with drug usage should reach out to Open Road, which has a centre in Queen Street or can be contacted on 01206-766-096.

Charged – two men have been charged on drug dealing offences, and a third has been arrested (Image: Daniel Rees, Newsquest)

“We share information to say this is a dangerous batch and tell people to reduce the amount you use, if you are going to use it," said Mrs Thompson. 

“We are here to help – there is no judgement or stigma.

“People who use drugs are scared and frightened because of this synthetic opioid going around – it is so much more potent and dangerous.

“There is a choice and there are options – speak to someone here and we can help.”