New super-strength opioid fuels ‘staggering’ death toll in the US

EXPERTS have issued an alert about a new type of lethal drug which is helping to fuel record overdose deaths across the United States.

The class of synthetic opioids known as “nitazine” are up to 10 times more powerful than fentanyl, the main driver of fatal overdoses.

In the last year an unprecedented 100,000 people died as the US opioid epidemic exploded alongside the coronavirus pandemic.

It came as many drug users lost their jobs or were socially isolated and unable to get treatment or other support.

President Joe Biden called the staggering opioid death toll a “tragic milestone” and vowed to spend billions of dollars to reverse it.

Around 75 per cent of overdose deaths currently involve fentanyl, a synthetic opioid originating in China, which itself has supplanted less powerful heroin in the US illicit drug supply.

Nitazenes were created over half a century ago as pain medication but they were never approved for use in the US.

One called protonitazene is about three times more powerful than fentanyl, while isotonitazene is 10 times as strong.

According to Alex Krotulski, associate director at the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education in Pennsylvania, nitazenes have become the “most popular subclass of new synthetic opioids”, and are “way more potent than fentanyl, which is scary”.

There are fears that Narcan, which is used to reverse overdoses, may not be as effective with the new class of drug.

Alexandra Evans, a forensic chemist who picked up the presence of nitazines in Washington, said: “We could be on the precipice of something devastating.

“We’ve already seen mass fatalities because of fentanyl overdoses. Since this is more potent than fentanyl we do expect an uptick in overdoses.”

Nitazenes are believed to have contributed to a surge in deaths in the capital, with nearly 500 fatal overdoses in the past year.

Across the US, drug overdoses are now responsible for more deaths than car crashes, guns, flu and pneumonia.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 100,300 Americans died of drug overdoses between May 2020 and April 2021.

The US states with the largest increases – all up by more than 50 per cent – were Vermont, West Virginia and Kentucky.

Fentanyl surpassed heroin five years ago as the drug involved in the most overdose deaths.

Drug cartels in Mexico use chemicals from China to mass produce and distribute fentanyl, and the drug is also bought and sold on the dark web. Dealers have mixed fentanyl into other drugs, including methamphetamines and cocaine, which has led to more fatalities.

With nicknames including “Drop Dead” it is fifty times stronger than heroin, and is mixed in to increase that drug’s potency. Experts who track the illegal drug supply in the US said new, more powerful synthetic opioids were turning up at an alarming rate.