Long-time Legal Insurrection readers may recall a series of posts on a class of opioids called nitazenes in the autumn of 2022.
Nitazenes are synthetic opioids developed initially in the 1950s as potential pain relievers but were never approved for clinical use due to their extreme potency and high overdose risk. These compounds can be hundreds of times more potent than morphine, and many specific nitazene-based chemicals are 20 to 43 times stronger than fentanyl.
That year, I noted that these drugs were being manufactured in China, and they were steadily finding their way into America’s illegal drug networks.
The growing danger of nitazene-tainted opioids in illicit drug supply isn’t specific to Tennessee, of course.
In June, the Washington, D.C.-based branch of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency issued an alert on the same class of drugs being spotted in that area.
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