A man has tragically died in the US due to overdosing on a potent new drug that’s “10 times more deadly than fentanyl”.
The individual from Boulder, Colorado, took a fatal overdose of N-Desethyl etonitazene in what is the country’s first recorded death due to the substance.
The synthetic nitazene opioid was detected during an autopsy conducted by Boulder County Coroner’s Office.
Scientists originally developed Nitazenes to act as a type of morphine, but 60 years on from their original application, the drugs pose a unique danger today.
Cmdr. Nicholas Goldberger of the Boulder County Drug Task Force said: “There are so many different constructional components to different nitazenes out there.”
“We’re actively looking at two cases which reference nitazenes and of course our primary look appears to be that the substances are coming from the dark web for these or at least one of the cases.”
According to Cmdr. Goldberger, the fatal N-Desethyl etonitazene overdose took place in Boulder in mid-2023, however, it takes time for autopsies to determine their findings.
Sgt. Patrick Compton of the same drug force, added that the victim is suspected to have overdosed after purchasing quaaludes from “the dark web”.
The tablets, a type of hypnotic sedative taken recreationally, exploded onto the scene in the 80s.
However, the Colorado victim unknowingly took pills contaminated with nitazenes.
These opioids, which are becoming increasingly deadly, are mainly coming from China, says the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Goldberger likened the distribution of nitazenes to a precise surgical operation, unlike the spread of fentanyl, which he compared to a “spider web of hubs going throughout the United States” as reported by the Denver Post.
“There are plenty of people who are using drugs, pick a drug it doesn’t matter, if they live through it, law enforcement doesn’t know anything about it,” Goldberger said.
“Maybe that one drug, again, pick any drug, has been in the area for months or weeks or days but we won’t know about it because it’s an incident where law enforcement or medical has not been called in to assist or they don’t have an investigation for that chemical, for that drug.
“This is all very new in the States,” Compton said, referring to the new drug. “I do think that there’s a lot that forensic pathologists, doctors, that medical centre, still has to learn, I think everyone’s just behind the curve on this and maybe at some point something will come to light on that.”
