Dr Annie Madden, the executive director of Harm Reduction Australia, said the synthetic opioid link to four deaths in Melbourne’s north was “extremely concerning for the Victorian and wider Australian community”.
“We have witnessed the devastation caused by synthetic opioids across North America over the past 10 years with hundreds of thousands of deaths,” Madden said in a statement.
“There has been a steady increase in the detection of synthetic opioids, especially nitazines, in Australia recently. The four deaths in Broadmeadows last week is a major wake-up call for those intent on keeping their heads in the sand on this looming situation.”
Harm Reduction Australia is a drug policy advocacy non-profit that is part of the Keep Our City Alive campaign for a safe injecting room in the CBD. Madden said the Broadmeadows deaths highlighted the need for a second safe injecting room in Victoria.
“We ask, as a community, how many more deaths are we willing to accept?”
The Penington Institute, a public health research non-profit specialising in drug policy, also issued an alert on Monday to its drug harm reduction network across Australia about protonitazenes detected in Melbourne.
Police outside the scene where two men, a woman and a teenage boy were found dead.Credit: Luis Ascui
“This further reinforces the importance of the Victorian government’s decision to introduce an 18-month drug-checking trial,” institute chief executive John Ryan said.
Call the National Alcohol and Other Drug hotline on 1800 250 015 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.