ADDICTS WARNED AS DEADLY MORPHINE BATCH HITS STREETS

POLICE today warned that a batch of morphine thought to have been
brought to the Capital from Poland risked killing drug addicts.

Officers have discovered that ampoules of morphine hydrochloride are
being sold by drug dealers in the city.

The ampoules are designed to be injected, unlike most morphine
dispensed in Scotland, which is normally given to seriously ill
cancer patients to drink.

The batch of the powerful drug is thought to have been smuggled into
the country from Poland.

They may originally have been issued for military use in the former
Eastern Bloc country.

Police are urgently trying to trace the rest of the morphine and
issued a warning that its effects could prove deadly.

They said the availability of morphine on the city's streets is
highly unusual and addicts looking for a fix may be unaware of its strength.

These ampoules bear the inscription Morphinum Hydrochlorum, WF2
POLFA, 20198, 1ml/20mg. The ampoule may also have a blue stripe
around the neck.

Polfa is the name of a Polish pharmaceutical firm which specialises
in manufacturing morphine.

Officers from the Lothian and Borders force have yet to recover any
of the full ampoules and no overdoses have been reported so far.

But a police spokeswoman warned that injecting the doses of morphine
could prove deadly.

She added: "We have information that these ampoules are available in
the Edinburgh and surrounding area which is highly unusual as it's
not common for this drug to be in circulation.

"We are trying to trace where they have come from but would urge the
general public, especially drug users, about the potential dangers of
taking these ampoules including fatal overdoses."

The Polish population in the Capital has rocketed since the country
joined the EU in 2004 and it is estimated that around 8000 Poles are
now living here.

In November, a direct air link between the Capital and Krakow in
Poland was announced by budget airline SkyEurope.

The flights will operate twice a week from April next year. Edinburgh
had a thriving Polish population from the time of the Second World
War, when the defeated Polish army fled its homeland and many
servicemen ended up in the UK.

In April last year, a batch of heroin sold on Edinburgh streets was
thought to have killed three people and left a teenager seriously ill
in hospital.

The first victim, a 20-year-old man, was discovered by his friend at
a home in Fort Street, Leith. Paramedics were called but it is
understood the man was declared dead at the scene.

The other two deaths, of a 41-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man,
took place in separate homes in Leith.

Detectives suspected the batch was either contaminated or is so pure
that addicts overdosed on what would be a regular amount.

Police said drug users should contact their GP if they have any health concerns.