Exclusive: NI fentanyl deaths up 1300% since 2014
One of Northern Ireland's coroners has issued a warning over the opioid Fentanyl after a 1300% rise in deaths involving the drug in three years.
Joe McCrisken told Downtown/Cool FM the worry is that abuse of the drug could reach epidemic levels seen in North America and Eastern Europe.
The potent medical drug is 100 times more powerful than morphine and the Public Health Agency has previously warned that when mixed with heroin, it becomes 10,000 times more powerful.
Researchers in the US have pointed out the danger of that practice, saying a heroin overdose can take 60 minutes, whereas the blend can kill in 60 seconds.
"We had one death attributable to fentanyl in 2014 and in 2016, we had 13 deaths," he said.
"You do the maths, that is a 1300% increase over the last three years.
"We expect that trend to continue into 2017, although we don't have the official figures for that just yet.
"There's an epidemic in North America, where tens of thousands of people are dying each year, it's an opioid epidemic.
"You can see an increase in fentanyl use and abuse in Eastern Europe also, so we're getting it from both sides, east and west, and we sit in the middle."
However, the way in which users are abusing fentanyl in NI is quite unique, with other countries mostly sticking to the liquid form.
"In one inquest which I held, the deceased had cut fentanyl patches up and stuck them in his gums," he said.
"That's not the way patches are meant to be administered.
"So, patches seem to be the favoured method of use in Northern Ireland, at least as far as deaths are concerned.
Mr McCrisken has issued a warning that NI stands on the brink of it's own crisis and has urged the relevant bodies to act pro-actively against the increasing presence of fentanyl here.
"My worry is that it won't be long before we start to have an ever increasing problem with fentanyl," he said,
"Whether that's because of increased supply or increased usage, it's impossible to say, but the trend we're seeing here at the minute is definitely very worrying."