Authorities in the US, Europe, and Australia are raising alarms over a new class of synthetic opioids known as nitazenes, which are around 40 times more potent than fentanyl. Since first appearing in 2019, nitazenes have been linked to hundreds of confirmed deaths, with experts suggesting the actual toll is likely much higher.
Nitazenes were originally developed in the 1950s by an Austrian company as potential painkillers. They were never widely used medically due to their high addiction potential and dangerous side effects, including respiratory depression, a condition in which breathing becomes dangerously shallow.
The drugs re-emerged on the illegal market in the past six years. Law enforcement first intercepted a shipment of isotonitazene in the US Midwest in 2019. Deaths linked to the drug soon followed in both the US and Europe.
Nitazenes are attractive to drug dealers because of their potency and similarity to heroin, allowing dealers to mix them with other opioids to increase profits. Users are often unaware they are consuming nitazenes, increasing the risk of overdose.
In the US, nitazenes are now reported across much of the country. They are typically produced in illegal laboratories in the US or Mexico using raw materials imported from Asia. Synthetic opioids accounted for approximately 70% of the 105,000 overdose deaths in the US in 2023, with fentanyl remaining the most common. Nitazenes remain a smaller portion of these deaths but are steadily increasing.
In Europe, the heroin market has been disrupted following the Taliban’s ban on opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan in 2021. As heroin supplies decline, synthetic opioids such as nitazenes are increasingly appearing on the market, raising concerns for public health authorities.
The effects of nitazenes are similar to other opioids, producing euphoria and relaxation, but their potency and unpredictability make them highly dangerous. Experts warn that without stronger monitoring and intervention, nitazenes could drive a new wave of overdose deaths in the coming years.
