South Australians are being warned about the presence of a potentially deadly synthetic opioid that led to two people being treated at the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) last week.

Toxicology screening detected the presence of Protonitazene, the first time this drug has been found in South Australia.

The cases suggested that this drug may currently be contaminating other non-opioid illicit drugs, such as methamphetamine.

Individuals exposed to Protonitazene are at a high risk of opioid poisoning, and the drug can produce life-threatening toxic effects at low doses, especially if people use drugs while unsupervised or alone.

The danger of taking any type of recreational drug is that it is impossible to know where it has come from, what is in it and at what dose, and what affect it will have on the individual who takes it.

Protonitazene has recently been detected in Victoria, Queensland, and Western Australia, and this is the first detection in a clinical environment in South Australia.

Anyone who has taken a recreational drug and the effects are unexpected, they should present to their closest Emergency Department immediately.