DEA warns fentanyl in US has become ‘more unpredictable and lethal’
The DEA has warned that fentanyl in the U.S. drug supply has become more unpredictable and lethal due to its increasing combination with synthetic opioids and sedatives like xylazine and nitazenes. These mixtures are often undetectable to users and complicate overdose treatment, as some substances cannot be reversed with standard antidotes like naloxone. The shift in drug composition poses new challenges in the ongoing opioid epidemic, even as border seizures of fentanyl have declined.
- ▪Fentanyl is increasingly being mixed with synthetic substances such as xylazine, nitazenes, cychlorphine, and medetomidine, making the drug supply more dangerous.
- ▪Xylazine, a veterinary sedative, is not an opioid and cannot be reversed by naloxone, increasing the risk of death during overdose.
- ▪Counterfeit pills containing fentanyl are widely available on social media and often mimic legitimate prescription drugs like Xanax and oxycodone.
- ▪Cychlorphine is up to 10 times more potent than fentanyl, which itself is 50 times stronger than heroin.
- ▪The CDC reported 109,000 drug overdose deaths in 2022, with 70% linked to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
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America’s fentanyl epidemic has become “even more unpredictable and lethal” as illegal drug producers shift to combining the highly addictive substance with synthetic opioids and sedatives, according to the U.S. government at the forefront of the 21st-century war on drugs. The Drug Enforcement Administration issued an alert in mid-May of a new trend in how fentanyl was being introduced to U.S. consumers, both those seeking out fentanyl and unsuspecting users trying to buy other drugs. Fentanyl is increasingly being added to a variety of synthetic drugs, or artificially engineered, man-made chemicals, that are already powerful and potentially deadly.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Washington Examiner.
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