What are nitazenes? The new class of opioids, some of which are more potent than fentanyl

A new class of synthetic opioids called nitazenes, which could be more potent than fentanyl, is being found around the world, including in the United States. Claire Zagorski, a harm reduction instructor at the University of Texas at Austin, said nitazenes were first developed in the 1950s and 1960s but were too strong and too similar to other opioids already on the market. “The patent, the synthesis—like how you make it and what’s unique about it—was filed with the U.

S. Patent Office and basically put on a shelf,” Zagorski said. But Zagorski said about eight years ago, nitazenes started showing up in the illicit drug supply.

Now, the drugs are being found coast to coast, which Zagorski said in part could be because most of the attention is on fentanyl. “There is not a law enforcement agency on earth that isn’t looking for fentanyl, looking for people who are moving it,” Zagorski said. Dr.

Shravani Durbhakula, a pain physician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said another reason nitazenes are starting to resurface is because they’re hard to trace. Craig Wiles, a retired DEA agent and adjunct professor at Tulane University, said nitazenes are also cheap to make, and some of the ingredients are legally available. “If you think about the business plan, they can be pushed with much less overhead than producing, moving and transporting traditional heroin,” Wiles said.

Wiles said they are likely in all of the areas identified as opioid hot spots. “You.