Podcasts Health Inside Health On the trail of a new street drug

On the trail of a new street drug

Published: Aug. 15, 2023, 8 p.m.

What happens when a new drug hits the UK\u2019s streets? And how are illicit drugs here changing \u2013 and why?

James follows the trail of the first case of \u201czombie drug\u201d xylazine in the UK and hears some powerful personal stories along the way.

The story begins in Solihull, in the West Midlands, where 43-year-old Karl Warburton was found dead in May 2022. He had a mix of xylazine, heroin, fentanyl and cocaine in his body.

James visits a local addiction clinic where Mark describes the fear and compulsion many addicts face. He tells James about his journey to recovery and we meet Simon who\u2019s on a mission to help people like Mark into a new life.

Next, James meets toxicologists at a busy hospital lab in Birmingham where he finds out how xylazine was first detected. Then he travels to London to meet a university academic who first raised the alarm about the drug, and visits a cramped room containing the paper records she keeps detailing every drug death in Britain from the past 25 years.

James goes on a surprising and, at times, emotional journey as he gets a rare insight into the world of illegal drugs and the parts of the NHS that treat addiction.\n

Presenter: James Gallagher \nProducer: Gerry Holt \nEditor: Erika Wright \nProduction Co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris \nTechnical producer: Andrew Garratt\n \nLocations: \nSolihull Integrated Addiction Services, Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust \nDepartment of Toxicology, Birmingham Heartlands Hospital \nThe National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths (NPSAD), King\u2019s College London