Michael Linnell, who runs Greater Manchester’s Drug Information System and advises on new and emerging trends nationally, said: “Pregabalin is an extremely dangerous drug and when used in combination with heroin in particular it enhances the effects, reduces tolerance and increases the likelihood of overdose.”
The Home Office investigation will consider whether measures designed to tackle misuse are sufficient.
Back in Manchester, Ricky told me that pregabalin tablets were “£1 a tablet” and offered, “If you want some, can I go and buy some now?”
He said most of the people he knows get their drugs from “street dealers” who source them online.
We found numerous dealers, including on the encrypted Telegram messaging app and on the dark web.
One UK seller promises first-class postal service and details their efforts to “avoid detection.”
In recent years, much has been written about another drug that has hit homeless communities hard: the synthetic cannabinoid “Spice.”
“This is better than pregab. It’s pregab that’s killing people,” says Ricky.
Between 2018 and 2023, new psychoactive substances such as Spice were involved in 887 fatal poisonings in England and Wales.
During the same period, in 1625, pregabalin was named.
