Urgent drugs warning after people rushed to Morriston Hospital
Health board believe its a bad batch of illegal recreational drugs which have been miss-sold
A number of people are seriously ill in Swansea's Morriston Hospital after overdosing on what the health board believe to be a bad batch of illegal recreational drugs.
Swansea Bay Health Board have issued an urgent warning about the drugs possibly being miss-sold as Valium and Xanax.
The casualties were taken to A and E yesterday.
Its as a Public Health Wales report says sedatives such as Diazepam which users can access without a prescription are being substitued with other substances by sellers.
Josie Smith, Head of Substance Misuse for Public Health Wales said:
“2020-21 has seen an increase in the proportion of benzodiazepine samples and, due to closure of pubs, bars and night clubs as part of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, a relative decrease in the submission of community samples of drugs including cocaine and other stimulants
“We are however increasingly aware of the high number of substitutions within benzodiazepines. These products may contain varying amounts of active ingredient, substituted drugs with different onset and duration times, different strengths or combinations of substances making it hard for individuals to know what they are taking and to reduce potential harms associated with use.
"This is a real threat to an individual’s health including risks of the overdose and development of dependency.
”We would encourage anyone with concerns regarding use of non-prescribed benzodiazepines to seek information and support”