Highly potent synthetic opioids found in teddy bear-shaped pills linked to a death in Queensland

Public health warning issued after drugs known as nitazenes detected amid move to ban pill testing

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Teddy bear-shaped pills laced with synthetic opioids have been linked to a death in Queensland, triggering a public health warning about a group of highly potent illicit drugs called nitazenes.

N-pyrrolidino-protonitazene and protonitazene were detected in toxicology and samples taken from pale yellow pills marked with the letter “Y” in the state’s south-east.