Dangerous combined drug detected in Czechia, carrying high risk of overdose

A drug combining methamphetamine and fentanyl has been detected in the Czech Republic, carrying a high risk of overdose. The sample came from a music festival, according to the National Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addiction, which reported the case on the government website.

Fentanyl is commonly prescribed by doctors to treat severe pain, such as in cancer patients. In the United States, the drug is responsible for hundreds of thousands of overdose deaths annually. In the Czech Republic, fentanyl was linked to 15 deaths last year.

In Czechia the drug is often obtained by extracting it from pain-relief patches, either through authorized patients or leakage from pharmaceutical distribution. Fentanyl can be up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.