He fentanyl, already known as the zombie drug, has become an epidemic in some countries, such as the United States. They can be seen entire neighborhoods in which people wander through the streets with confused steps and lost gazes. That is, if they can still stand. Until recently, it was considered the opioid most fearsome, but it has been superseded by drugs that are not new, but have reached a current and dangerous peak: nitazenes.
These were synthesized for the first time in the 1950sat a Swiss pharmaceutical company called Ciba Pharmaceuticals. Logically, they were not developed as a recreational drug, but as an analgesic medication. It turned out to be very powerful for this purpose; but, so much so, that it entailed very serious side effects. Therefore, it stopped being synthesized and fell into oblivion. Or so we believed.
Recently, it seems that some clandestine laboratories have found the formula used in Switzerland and have begun to manufacture nitazenes in order to market an opioid that provides a high much greater than that of fentanyl. And it does, yes. But it is also much more deadly. For this reason, the authorities of the United States, and other countries, such as Englandhave already sounded the alarm so it can become a whole health crisis.
Much more powerful than fentanyl
Fentanyl is 50 times more powerful than heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine, hence it is considered one of the most powerful opioids. It is estimated that nitazenes are 100 times more potent than morphine, making them comparable to fentanyl. But, in reality, there are differences that make them much more dangerous.
For example, in a recent study, it was found that, although a single dose of fentanyl is usually sufficient to reverse the effects of fentanyl, naloxonefor some nitazenes at least two are needed.
Naloxone is a drug which binds to the same brain receptors that opiates and opioids (opiates synthesized in the laboratory) act on. Therefore, it prevents the occurrence of its detrimental effects and they can save someone from death with a overdose.
This indicates that if it takes that much naloxone to reverse the effects of nitazenes, it is actually a lot. more dangerous than fentanyl, since it binds more efficiently to receptors. And that is not the only data that indicates this. One of them is related to the difficulty breathing. While all opioids have the ability to depress the respiratory system at doses similar to those that cause euphoria, in the case of nitazenes, this occurs for much longer. An example is the N-desethyl isotonitazenewith which they can take 208 minutes in regaining normal breathing, compared to 67 minutes of fentanyl.
What makes you stronger can also kill you
We must not forget that, like other opioids, nitazenes are designed to treat pain. As explained in a recent article by The Conversationin studies with rats, N-desethyl isotonitazene has been shown to relieve pain at a dose almost 10 times lower than that needed for fentanyl, and around 1,400 times less than that of morphine.
This is apparently a good thing. It’s better for treating pain, yes. But all opioids work the same. At a low dose alleviate the pain. However, at a slightly higher level they cause euphoria and drowsiness and then dangerous symptoms begin, such as depression of the respiratory system and even death. If a tiny dose is needed to relieve pain, the amount that will be needed will also be very low. can be fatal.
Another big problem, as is also the case with fentanyl, is that nitazenes are often used to adulterate other drugs. It has been seen, for example, with cocaine, benzodiazepines or synthetic cannabinoids.
Therefore, many people could be consuming these drugs, mixed with a much more powerful and potentially more deadly substance. This has already become a problem that threatens to be even greater than that of fentanyl. In fact, the United Nations They already warned in 2021 that this group of psychoactive drugs are the ones that are growing the most.
In 2020, 19 new synthetic opioids, compared to 17 stimulants and 13 synthetic cannabinoids. Of these new opioids, 5 were nitazenes, so the situation was already worrying then. But it’s worse now. Action must be taken on the matter as soon as possible. If not, the fentanyl crisis will seem small to us, compared to what may be to come.