A powerful synthetic drug is sweeping Israel and West Bank, with the authorities struggling to contain the fallout.

Hydrocodone or “hydro” is similar in its effects to marijuana but much more addictive. Its users experience an opiate-like high, and the withdrawal symptoms are comparable to those undergone by heroin addicts.

Users spend their days slumped indoors or inactive on street corners, and commonly resort to stealing in order to maintain their addiction.

Doctors have warned that pregnant women can kill or harm their unborn babies if they use the drug.

The region’s hydro epidemic was the subject of a documentary in Ross Kemp’s Extreme World TV series.

Heading out with vigilantes to a stash house. #ExtremeWorld investigates the hydro epidemic in the West Bank, tonight, 9pm, @sky1 pic.twitter.com/hZR4Ey3TdE

— Ross Kemp (@RossKemp) July 16, 2017

In the film, Mr Kemp a former EastEnders actor, visited East Jerusalem and the West Bank to meet addicts and their dealers. One Palestinian drugs counsellor told the former actor: “The level of drug use today is really scary. It is like dropping a nuclear bomb on a small country. Treatment for addiction can last from one month to a year.”

He said the lack of job opportunities once they were clean meant “people just start smoking again”.