The DEA is raising alarms about nitazene, a synthetic opioid significantly more potent than fentanyl, hitting U.S. streets. While fentanyl-related overdose deaths have declined since 2023, officials warn this new drug poses a growing threat to public health and safety.

Long Island

The US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has issued a warning about nitazene, a synthetic opioid that is significantly more potent than fentanyl. While overdose deaths have declined in recent years, authorities are concerned about the emergence of nitazene, which is being smuggled into the country and pressed into illicit pills. 

Nitazene was originally developed in the 1950s as a painkiller but was never marketed due to its extreme strength and high risk of overdose. Officials report that nitazene can be up to 40 times more powerful than fentanyl, with even a single grain posing a lethal risk. Health experts advise the public to keep naloxone on hand, as it can reverse overdoses caused by opioids like nitazene.

DEA warns of nitazene, synthetic opioid far stronger than fentanyl

According to the CDC, drug overdose deaths, fueled mostly by fentanyl, have been on a steady decline since 2023. But now the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency is warning of a new synthetic drug hitting the streets. In tonight's In Depth, CBS New York's Jennifer Bisram reports on the growing danger of netazine. Losing my son has been the most difficult thing that's ever happened to me. On Long Island, New York, it's been just over a year since Sharon Valente's 32-year-old son Vincent died from a drug overdose. I miss our conversations. I miss our conversations. I miss his voice. Vincent died after a 15-year battle with drugs that started when he was just 17 years old. Sharon believes his heroin use led to a fentanyl addiction, which ultimately took his life. As family members, we're sick and suffering along with our loved ones who suffer from substance use disorder. While just two milligrams of fentanyl could be lethal, authorities are now sounding the alarm about an even more dangerous synthetic opioid called netazine. This illicit drug is being smuggled into the United States and pressed into pills here. Frank Tarantino is a special agent in charge with the DEA. Netazine was developed in the 1950s primarily as a painkiller, but the intensity and the strength was so extreme and that the potential risk of overdoses was so high that it never made it onto the market. Authorities are encouraged by the fact that overdose deaths last year plunged nearly 27 percent from the year before. Fentanyl remains the leading cause, but officials say netazine is up to 40 times more potent and powerful. Inside a DEA lab, Tarantino showed us netazine and other illegally pressed pills seized in a recent drug bust. In the past, we've talked about the lethality of fentanyl, and we say it's anywhere between 10 and 20 grains of salt. When we look at netazine, we're talking about anywhere from one grain or less. They don't know what's going to be in the substance that they're using. Dr. Chenise O'Cunningham is the commissioner of the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports. She says people should arm themselves with a life-saving antidote. What really is the most important thing that people have naloxone around so that if they do overdose from an opioid, netazine is an opioid, the naloxone will reverse it. Back on Long Island, Sharon Valente keeps her son's memory alive by warning others about the dangers of drug abuse. As a mother, what is your advice to other parents? You can't sit back and think that it's a phase. Educate yourself to never say that it's not going to be my kid or it won't happen to us. A mother turning her grief into purpose. Jennifer Bistram, CBS News, Long Island, New York.

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