Super-strength painkiller described as 'global threat' claims record death toll in England
Administered by patches, soluble tablet and flavoured lollipops, it is also available on the black market in powder form. It is believed dealers of heroin and other class A drugs are increasingly lacing their product with fentanyl to give users a more potent, but more hazardous, kick. Police forces say it is difficult to stem the tide of fentanyl as it is relatively simple to manufacture in a home laboratory and is also arriving via the dark web, principally from China and Hong Kong. In England the number of prescriptions of the drug have increased from 900,000 in 2009 to one million in 2019.