A new deadly drug that is believed to have originated in China has hit American communities. Experts have identified the “synthetic opioid” – a chemically manufactured drug that is frequently found mixed with other opioids, like fentanyl and heroin – in overdose cases in at least seven states: New York, California, Illinois, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Tennessee.
The Deadly Drug
The “designer drug” called N-Propionitrile Chlorphine – also known as cychlorphine – is “a non-fentanyl-related synthetic opioid,” according to the Knox County Regional Forensic Center. It has been connected to 28 deaths as of mid-February, with most overdose cases occurring in Tennessee. Preliminary toxicology tests indicate at least 17 overdose deaths have been linked to cychlorphine in the Volunteer State.
“It’s showing up at an exponential rate,” said Chris Thomas, chief administrative officer and director of the Forensic Center. “[W]e don’t know if it’s a single batch and done with or if it’s the new future.”
Cychlorphine has been detected in 25 blood samples collected from men and women who suffered fatal overdoses, the Center for Forensic Science and Research Education (CFSRE) said. NMS Labs, an independent company that provides clinical and forensic toxicology analysis, has also “tentatively” identified the drug in over 100 cases.
The lab noted that some samples showed cychlorphine as the only opioid in a drug user’s system, while others revealed additional substances were present, including fentanyl, methamphetamine, bromazolam, and phenazolam.
Forensic Magazine reported that the allegedly Chinese opioid is “10x stronger than fentanyl.”
“This isn’t a drug that has been approved for clinical use, and it’s never been clinically approved to be sold on the market,” said Darinka Mileusnic-Polchan, chief medical examiner at Knox County Regional Forensic Center. “It’s more powerful than fentanyl and naloxone does not completely block the effects of the drug and multiple doses may be needed to prevent an overdose.”
Overdose Deaths
The sudden appearance of cychlorphine in the United States comes after drug overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids – excluding methadone – dropped by 35.6% from 2023 to 2024, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data.
Between the same years, all age groups from 15 to 65 and over saw a decline in the drug overdose death rate, with younger people between the ages of 15 and 24 seeing the greatest decrease.
The CDC reported that the “national age-adjusted drug overdose death rate decreased by 26.2% between 2023 and 2024,” marking the “largest percentage drop across the 2014–2024 period and continues a period of decline that began in 2022.”
While drug overdoses in the US are declining, officials are closely monitoring the emergence of N-Propionitrile Chlorphine. In January, the US Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs issued an alert notifying public health and safety agencies, first responders, law enforcement, medical examiners, clinicians, forensic and clinical laboratory personnel, coroners, and all other relevant groups about the new drug.
“Synthetic opioids are commonly distributed in powder or tablet form,” the alert warned. It added, “Primary adverse effects associated with synthetic opioid use are sedation and respiratory depression, which can lead to death if untreated with naloxone and/or other measures.”
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