"The Rise of Nitazenes: A New Wave of Street Drugs in the US"

Nitazenes, a potent class of synthetic opioids, have been linked to numerous overdose deaths in the US and Europe since 2019, with recent cases in Boulder County, Colorado. These psychoactive substances, not controlled by laws, are hundreds to thousands of times more potent than morphine and 10 to 40 times stronger than fentanyl. They first emerged as street drugs in 2019 and are often mixed with other substances, making them difficult to detect. Signs of overdose resemble classic opioids, and naloxone may be effective in reversing the effects, but larger doses may be needed.