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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Hannah Harris Green

New class of opioids that may be more potent than fentanyl emerges globally

a person wearing black gloves holds a small clear plastic bag with a tan powder
A forensic toxicologist holds a nitazene powder sample on 20 October 2023, in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. Photograph: Joe Lamberti/The Washington Post via Getty Images

A new class of potentially deadly synthetic opioids is suddenly appearing around the globe, including in the US, and scientists are rushing to figure out how to detect it in the drug supply.

Within the last month, nitazenes were implicated in four overdose deaths in Manchester, England; they were detected in over 2,500 counterfeit oxycodone pills in Hamilton, Canada; and they were found for the first time in the Netherlands. The US Drug Enforcement Administration has warned about their appearance in Washington DC.

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