EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said the country continues to face an unprecedented and evolving drug threat driven by illicit fentanyl, which the agency said is increasingly mixed with a dangerous array of synthetic substances emerging in the illicit market.
“These combinations are making an already deadly drug supply even more unpredictable and lethal,” the DEA said. “Law enforcement and public health officials are seeing fentanyl combined with highly potent substances such as xylazine, nitazenes, cychlorphine, and medetomidine. Many of these substances are not approved for human use and are often undetectable to the user.”
According to the DEA news release, Xylazine and medetomidine are used by veterinarians to sedate animals. Nitazenes and cychlorphine are potent, unregulated, synthetic opioids. New nitazenes tend to be introduced when regulatory actions, enforcement, and drug scheduling put pressure on existing analogues. DEA has reported 22 unique nitazenes compounds since 2020, 21 of which are listed as Schedule I controlled substances…