NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A drug thousands of times stronger than morphine is showing up on streets across Tennessee, leading doctors to put out a warning.

Nitazenes, a highly potent synthetic opioid first developed in the 1950s, was so powerful that it was never approved for use in humans. However, the drug is now claiming lives in the Volunteer State.

News 2 has covered countless stories about the impact of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more powerful than morphine. Now imagine a drug thousands of times more powerful than that.

"Nitazenes are synthetic opioids, they are hundreds of times more powerful than fentanyl," said Dr. Shravani Durbhakula, associate professor of Anesthesiology, Division of Pain Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. "The most common type we ar

See Full Page