As the U.S. Cracks Down on Fentanyl, a New Opioid Is Emerging

As the U.S. Cracks Down on Fentanyl, a New Opioid Is Emerging

As efforts to fight the fentanyl trade ramp up, new synthetic opioids that are less detectable and sometimes stronger than the notorious drug are cropping up with greater frequency in the American market. Multiple “analogues,” or variations, of opioids known as nitazenes have now been detected across more than a dozen states. Some are on par in potency with fentanyl, which has taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of drug users in just the la…