DEATHS due to the synthetic opiod fentanyl rose by 29% in the UK in 2017 according to data from Britain's Office for National Statistics, BBC News reports.
Fatalities from cocaine use are also reportedly at the highest rate ever recorded, with Scotland having 83 drug deaths per million, followed by England and Wales at 66.1 - more than three times the rate for the EU, Turkey and Norway.
Most deaths are considered accidental, from combinations with heroin or used in the more potent carfentanyl version of the product.
Fentanyl is at least 100 times stronger than other class A drugs, the report noted.
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