Street Valium pills have been found laced with fentanyl – the killer drug that has ravaged America and other countries.
Users are being warned that the cut-price “vallies” or “blues” – already a deadly hazard – could now contain the opioid that is 10 times stronger than heroin.
Substance misuse group SMART Recovery Fife said it received an alert about tablets being sold as Valium in the Cardenden area in recent weeks.
Fentanyl is up to 100 times more potent than pharmaceutical morphine and is normally used to treat severe pain and assist with end-of-life care.
A 3mg dose is enough to kill an average-sized man.
A spokesman for SMART Recovery Fife warned people of the dangers and urged drug users to seek Naloxone, which reverses overdoses, from support agencies.
He said: “Due to the strength of fentanyl compared with other opioids there is an increased likelihood of overdose and death.”
Anyone who has any information in relation to street Valium can contact Police Scotland on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.
