NEW OPIOID ON THE BLOCK

Amid crackdowns on fentanyl, a potent and less detectable alternative emerges

- BY CONNOR GREENE

AS EFFORTS TO FIGHT THE FENTANYL TRADE ramp up, new synthetic opioids that are less detectable and sometimes stronger than the notorious drug are cropping up with greater frequency in the American market.

Multiple analogues, or variations, of opioids known as nitazenes have now been detected across more than a dozen states. Some are on par in potency with fentanyl. Others, which are less prevalent but have been detected in the U.S., are exponentially more potent.

Their emergence is being seen by scientists who track the spread of opioids around the U.S. as a harbinger of an altered landscape of drugs about which little is known.

In the coming months, Dasgupta suggests, other drugs such as nitazene analogues or other sedatives his lab has detected in the drug supply chain might become more prominent in the market and fill supply gaps left by fentanyl.

The sheer volume of fentanyl circulating into and within the country means a major shift in the opioid supply is not immediately imminent, according to experts. But it’s possible the apparent increase in nitazenes across the country at the same time that fentanyl’s presence is waning marks the beginning of such a trend—though it may take years to establish, if it ever does.