"Cychlorphine just knocks you out", says Julia. The 34-year-old Estonian has extensive experience with drugs: heroin, fentanyl, amphetamines and finally nitazene and cychlorphine. All of these substances worry drug experts around the world. The reason is that they are up to a hundred times stronger than naturally produced heroin. Even the smallest overdose can be deadly. In Estonia, these synthetic opioids almost completely dominate the drug market and have practically replaced heroin, writes ARD.
The publication quotes Mart Kalvet, who works for „Lunest“ - an organization that protects the interests of drug addicts in Estonia. He describes the situation as follows: "For a few years now, we have become something of a test market for synthetic opioids." He suspects that criminal networks are behind this. The biggest problem is that people often don't know what they are consuming: "This stuff always looks the same. But you don't see what molecules are in it."
"We thought we had overcome the crisis"
In fact, Estonia has something to boast about in the fight against drugs. The Baltic state was one of the countries where fentanyl spread more than 20 years ago - long before the substance, originally used as a painkiller, became a widely used drug in the United States. Within just a few years, the entire drug market was dominated by fentanyl.
That's when the Estonian police stepped in to put an end to the activities of the criminal networks. The success was not long in coming: by 2018, the number of drug-related deaths had dropped by more than 50 percent, ARD reports. “We thought we had overcome the crisis,” says Wright Picaro of the Tallinn Criminal Police today. The number of fentanyl-related deaths has reached its lowest point. But the success was short-lived. Just a few years later, new substances appeared in Estonia.
Synthetic drugs are easy to mix
First nitazene, then cyclophine: both substances are synthetic opioids, the main ingredients of which come from the pharmaceutical industry. They can be mixed in mobile laboratories. For these “drug kitchens,” there are no longer any geographical boundaries, says Wright Picaro. “The ingredients come mainly from Asia. But then the substances are mixed and processed somewhere. We are waging a constant battle with these laboratories.“
At the moment, the Estonian police cannot boast of any great successes in this battle. But it is well known that one of the traces leads to neighboring Latvia. This is what the head of the criminal police said in an interview with ARD. This battle is difficult because the traces cannot be easily traced.
But this battle is not doomed, assures Picaro: “We managed to save 500 lives - this is our success story with fentanyl. And it shows that we can succeed again,” he tells ARD. The expert nevertheless warns that as long as there is demand for these drugs, there will always be someone to offer new substances to the market.
Alarming data
In the first months of this year, a new record was again set in Estonia for the number of drug-related deaths. That's why the authorities need to change their approach, says Mart Kalvet. He is campaigning for the decriminalisation of drug use and demands that addicts be given the opportunity to test a drug so they know what they are consuming. "In this respect, Estonia can learn a lot from other countries," says the representative of the drug support organisation.
Kristin Mikko coordinates drug policy at the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs and is proud of her country's achievements in the fight against fentanyl. However, she sees her work as a series of successes and failures: "When one crisis is over, you have to prepare for the next one," she told ARD.
Author: Christian Stichler ARD