Newest Drug To Threaten Washington Makes Fentanyl Look Tame
Synthetic opioids have been wreaking havoc across the United States for a over a quarter century. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates the opioid crisis began around 1999 when prescription opioid attributed deaths began to rise.
It's been roughly a dozen years since synthetic opioids began to dominate the illegal drug scene. Synthetics, of which fentanyl has been the king of the roost, are made in powder form, pressed into pills, and mixed into other drugs (like heroin for example) for distribution.
The latest synthetic opioid raising alarms is another drug that was created in the mid 20th Century (1950s) but deemed too dangerous to be released on the market. Even though the goal was to create another type of pain reliever, the drug was found to be highly toxic and there was more risk to introducing it than reward. It is now becoming more prominent in the illegal drug market
A Drug Considered More Potent Than Fentanyl
You've probably never heard of Nitazenes (nai-ta-zeens) before today. Nitazenes have been making their way across Europe for the last number of years and are now being found across the United States. What makes Nitazenes so dangerous is that there are thirteen different types, with the strongest being forty-three times more potent than fentanyl. There is another concerning issue surrounding Nitazenes
Naloxone (Narcan) has become a major tool in saving the lives of people who have overdosed on opioids. One dose can help restore normal breathing to an overdose victim within minutes of use. The same can't be said with regard to Nitazenes. While Naloxone may be effective in helping someone who has overdosed on Nitazenes, it make take multiple doses of the life saving drug for it to help.
It Gets Worse
Even though there are Nitazene test strips available (fentanyl test strips will not detect them), the results just reveal the drugs presence, not their potency. That requires more specialized testing which isn't available on spot. Nitazenes also currently aren't part of the standard toxicity screenings done as part of a death investigation.
An estimated 2,000 people have died from Nitazene since 2019, because of the lack of specific testing for the drug that number could be incredibly understated. China is believed to be the primary producer/distributor of the synthetic opioid. If you're wondering if it has made it's way to Washington State...it has. A report from April of this year stated that limited wastewater testing in Washington detected the presence of Niazenes.
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