Guardian Science Weekly

Nitazenes and xylazine: what’s behind the rise of dangerous synthetic drugs?

Loading player...
Social affairs correspondent Robert Booth tells Madeleine Finlay why a class of synthetic opioids called nitazenes, first developed in the 1950s, is leading to a worrying number of fatal overdoses in the UK. And she hears from toxicology and addiction specialist Dr Joseph D’Orazio about a tranquilliser called xylazine that has been showing up in alarming volumes in the US illegal drug supply and is now starting to appear in toxicology reports in the UK. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
19 Feb 2024 English United Kingdom Science · Nature

Other recent episodes

What is a food intolerance, and how do you know if you have one?

Social media is awash with content about food intolerances and the symptoms to look out for. But figuring out whether you actually have one, and what’s triggering it, is surprisingly difficult. One avenue people are gravitating towards is at-home testing. Madeleine Finlay sits down with health and lifestyle journalist Rebecca…
28 Apr 17 min

Mythos: are fears over new AI model panic or PR?

Earlier this month the AI company Anthropic said it had created a model so powerful that, out of a sense of responsibility, it was not going to release it to the public. Anthropic says the model, Mythos Preview, excels at spotting and exploiting vulnerabilities in software, and could pose a…
21 Apr 15 min
All episodes