{
  "id": 9341936,
  "title": "New powerful synthetic opioids behind sharp rise in Scottish drugs deaths",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/new-powerful-synthetic-opioids-behind-sharp-rise-in-scottish-drugs",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-09-23T13:12:54.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Guardian Health",
    "slug": "guardian-health",
    "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/23/powerful-synthetic-opioid-nitazenes-sharp-rise-scottish-drugs-deaths"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Eleven per cent increase in fatalities last year partly down to presence of nitazenes in Scotland’s illicit drug market New forms of a powerful synthetic opioid have contributed to a sharp rise in Scottish drug deaths, with the latest data showing an 11% increase in fatalities last year Annual figures released by National Records of Scotland (NRS) on Wednesday recorded 1,133 drug-related deaths…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}