A little-known synthetic opioid far more potent than fentanyl is quietly driving a wave of fatal overdoses, sparking concern among authorities and public health experts worldwide.
The drug, part of a class known as nitazenes, is believed to be up to 250 times stronger than heroin and five times stronger than fentanyl, according to The Wall Street Journal. Even trace amounts can prove lethal—and many people have no idea they’ve taken it.
A Hidden Threat in Street Drugs
Nitazenes are often mixed into heroin, counterfeit painkillers, and anti-anxiety medications, making them especially dangerous. Users typically have no way of knowing they’ve consumed this potent substance.
Originally developed in 1950s Switzerland as a morphine alternative, nitazenes were never approved for medical use. They began appearing more widely on the illegal European drug market in 2019, and have since been detected in drug supplies across nearly every continent.
Hundreds Dead in Europe—And It’s Spreading
Hundreds of people in Europe have died after unknowingly ingesting nitazenes, the Journal reports. And the drug has now made its way into the United States, further worsening the already-devastating opioid epidemic that has claimed more than 800,000 American lives between 1999 and 2023, according to the CDC.
“Synthetic opioids in the U.S. have not been driven by demand—they have been driven wholesale by supply,” said Vanda Felbab-Brown of the Brookings Institution.
Experts warn that if major criminal groups start distributing nitazenes widely, the public health consequences could be catastrophic.
Quiet Infiltration Into the U.S.
Although Mexico hasn’t reported large-scale seizures of nitazenes, the DEA says Mexican cartels could easily import the drug using their existing Chinese supplier networks.
Since 2019, nitazenes have been linked to at least 4,300 drug seizures in the U.S., but the real number is likely much higher. Many toxicology tests don’t screen for the drug, meaning deaths are often misclassified—or missed altogether.
A Mother’s Tragic Discovery
One mother from North Wales, Anne Jacques, lost her son in 2023 to what she was first told was cardiac arrest. Her son, a healthy opera singer, had Xanax pills in his room, and Jacques eventually learned he may have purchased them illegally. After months of her own investigation, she asked the coroner to test for nitazene—and found the pills were contaminated.
“I basically had to investigate my own son’s death,” she told the Journal. “It felt like he had been murdered.”
As nitazenes continue to slip into street drugs undetected, authorities fear the true toll is being vastly undercounted—and the worst may still be ahead.
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Katie is a senior who has been on staff for three years. Her favorite type of stories to write is reviews and features. Katie’s favorite ice cream flavor is strawberry.
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