Highly potent opioid Nitazenes linked to growing number of overdose deaths

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A little-known class of synthetic opioids, known as nitazenes, is being connected to a rising number of overdose deaths in the U.S. and around the world. These drugs, which can be up to 10 times more potent than fentanyl, are posing a new threat to public health because they are challenging to detect with routine drug screenings.

Nitazenes were initially developed in the 1950s as a powerful pain reliever but were never approved for medical use due to their high risk of overdose. They began appearing on the illicit drug market in Europe in 2019 and have since spread to North America and other continents. According to a report from the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), nitazene use is a “growing trend in North America.”

Why Nitazenes Are So Dangerous