The new death drug etonitazepyn has never been discovered before in Norway. The autopsy report after an unexpected death last Christmas made the police investigators close their eyes. The police in Sunnmøre are now going out and warning against small, light blue tablets with the active ingredient etonitazepyn. – It’s very dangerous. You should take very little of it before there can be danger to life and health, and it will take little before you take an overdose, says police attorney Lena Katrin Romestrand. A young man was found dead outside an apartment where he is supposed to have been to a party on Christmas Eve. Romestrand says the police do not know where the tablets he had taken came from, or whether more people may have obtained it. The police in Sunnmøre say the drug is so new that it is for example not classified as a drug. Police attorney Lena Katrine Romestrand at Møre og Romsdal police district. Photo: Remi Sagen / news Fear that more people may take it In the apartment where the young man was visiting, the police are said to have found between 15 and 20 tablets of the same type. Police attorney Lena Katrin Romestrand says they now fear that more people will get hold of tablets and take them, without knowing what they are getting. The tablets should apparently look like less dangerous, narcotic tablets, but contain very dangerous substances. – We fear that there may be more overdoses. We do not know how easy it is to obtain, and whether this find is the only one in Sunnmøre. But it shows that it is available on the market, she says. According to Romestrand, the substance is more dangerous than fentanyl, which killed 21-year-old Jens Lunde Tusvik. Many have heard of him through the news series «Rus». Has sounded the international alarm Professor and chief physician Lars Slørdal has the professional responsibility for the forensic toxicology activities at St. Olav’s hospital. He says they are increasingly coming across new drugs that are referred to as “new psychoactive substances”, NPS. These are already known drugs that are chemically modified, but which one has minimal experience and knowledge of. – It is a crossroads for me that someone at all is willing to make their own body and own life available for such glasses of chance, he says. The blue tablets are only a few millimeters, but can do great damage. Photo: Per Ole Gundersen, Department of Clinical Pharmacology, St. Olav’s Hospital European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction, EMCDDA, has already been notified of the death in Norway. The center tries to keep track of the illegal substances that abound. As of now, there are 880 NPS substances. In addition, there will probably be large dark numbers. – The sale of these substances takes place in a closed environment via the internet and post office, and both drug dogs, customs officers, police and analysis personnel naturally have problems finding and mapping substances they have never before been exposed to, he says. It was here at St. Olav’s hospital in Trondheim that the new drug etonitazepine was recently discovered. Photo: Tariq Alisubh / news Do not think the aim knew The police do not know how many tablets the man in Sunnmøre got before he died of the overdose. In retrospect, a man in his 30s is charged with mutilation and for leaving a helpless person. Another is charged with complicity in desecration, after they are said to have wheeled the deceased on a trolley received from the apartment. – We do not think he knew how dangerous the tablets were, says Romestrand. The deceased was found dead outside the apartment a few days before Christmas last year. The relatives say through their assistance lawyer that they want the police to warn against the new drug. They do not want other relatives to have to experience the loss they have suffered, the assistance lawyer writes in a text message to news.
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Police fear more overdoses after finding the death drug etonitazepyn in Sunnmøre – news Møre og Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio
