DRUG HUNDREDS OF TIMES STRONGER THAN FENTANYL FOUND ON TENNESSEE STREETS
Nitazenes, a class of synthetic opioids developed in the 1950s but shelved due to their extreme potency and danger, are resurfacing on Tennessee streets, prompting urgent warnings from medical experts.
Far more powerful than fentanyl—which is already 50 times stronger than morphine—nitazenes can be hundreds of times more potent, with common variants about 20 times stronger than fentanyl, according to Dr. Shravani Durbhakula, an associate professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
These drugs, originating from precursors produced in China and manufactured in illicit labs, are being laced into other substances, leading to undetectable and lethal overdoses; the CDC reports at least 93 related deaths in Tennessee alone since they reemerged in the illicit supply around 2018.
Detection requires advanced chromatography, unavailable to most agencies, and reversing an overdose demands significantly higher doses of naloxone—typically two to four or more, administered rapidly—to counteract their intensity, underscoring the need for heightened vigilance to prevent a surge in fatalities as the drugs evolve beyond standard testing capabilities.
