Nitazene is a new drug in the US. The synthetic opioid is making waves for its strength, potency and dangers to recreational users.
That’s becoming more and more of a problem as it’s spreading across the US. If you’ve heard of it or think you or a loved one is using it, you need to know about the drug, how it’s different from other opioids, how to stay safe and what to do.
Of course the best answer is to not use opioids recreationally. But if you do, especially a new and experimental one like Nitazene, you need to take safety precautions, try to use in an overdose prevention center and have Naloxone on hand if something goes wrong.
This article will cover everything we know about nitazene so you can make an informed decision about the drug.
Nitazene is a synthetic opioid and unlike many other recreational opioids on the market, was never approved for medical use. Instead it’s synthesized and imported from China where it’s a street drug. Nitazene was probably synthesized in a lab as part of research to find drugs that aren’t illegal or banned for import/export.
It was also found in the US in the Midwest in 2019. The drug came to medical attention after several people were admitted to the hospital for opioid related seizures. Drug tests showed an unknown opioid in their system – which turned out to be nitazene. Those same drugs have appeared in Europe and the Americas and almost exclusively came to medical attention after drug-seizure deaths.
Nitazene was first synthesized in medical labs in the US in the 1960s. But they had significant health problems so they were never approved for clinical use.
Now it’s spreading across the US with 726 seizures of the drug between 2021 and 2023.
News articles can exaggerate the risks and dangers of a drug. But it’s true Nitazene is a very potent opioid. It works like fentanyl in potency and high. It does so by interacting with the mu-opioid receptor and blocking some other interactions in the brain. This results in a high with feelings of euphoria, loss of inhibition, feeling of being powerful etc. like morphine and other opioids.
It also works very similar to a drug from the 1950s. That drug is etonitazene which is 500-1,000 times the potency of morphine in animals. It also causes significant respiratory depression and significant dependency problems so it’s not approved for human use.
Of course actual potency is still up for debate. The original 1960s clinical trial listed Nitazene as 500x the strength of morphine. But some doses found in patients suggest it could be much stronger with quotes listing it as 500-1,500x. Of course news articles listing it as 20x the strength of fentanyl or 2,000x stronger than morphine are unfounded.
Nitazene is a class of opioids that are not approved for clinical or medical use because they are too dangerous for humans to use. So it’s never a good idea to use drugs like Nitazene. These risks are physical complications and high risk of dependency and addiction.
For example nitazene is linked to high occurrence of respiratory depression.
This side effect of overdose can be fatal because people don’t get enough air and may even stop breathing altogether. Also it’s heavily linked to opioid seizures because the drug is so strong and people can overdose easily. Especially if the person taking the drug doesn’t know they’ve been sold an experimental drug. Instead Nitazene is often used to cut other drugs. For example a filler cut with nitazene can be sold as heroin. Even people buying pills like Xanax on the street can be sold fakes that look like the real thing but are nothing but cellulose with opioids like Nitazene.
Others opt for synthetic drugs like Nitazene because they can use less of it. Stronger and more potent drugs can be more cost effective which is usually a good thing if you’re using a lot.
Also Nitazene is completely made in illicit labs. This means no medical oversight, no quality control and no dosing. With no controls to ensure every batch is the same or pure and safe for human consumption it’s never safe to use illicitly manufactured drugs. In fact you can’t even tell if one batch of nitazene is 10x stronger than another without testing it in a lab – which means you’re risking yourself every time you use.
Nitazene is also very potent. At up to 100 times the strength of heroin a dose can be tiny. For example a dose of heroin is 0.4-111mg. For nitazene that can be 0.004-0.11mg which is hard to dose and measure out. These drugs are often sold “by the dose” which means the buyer is expected to take one pre-divided amount of the drug with fillers. But street opioids often (about 13% of the time) test as double the dose required for a high so there’s a high risk of overdose for people who take them all.
Nitazene is sold as “ISO” or nitazene a synthetic opioid. But it’s also cut into other drugs so it can take many forms. The DEA has found ISO in yellow, brown and white powder. It’s also been found cut into heroin to increase the strength. And it’s found in a large range of M-8 and M-30 oxycodone pills. So you may not even know you’re buying nitazene and you definitely don’t know what’s in the pills you’re taking.
If you or a loved one is struggling with drug use it’s time to look and get help. Nitazene is an extreme example of a dangerous synthetic opioid. It’s dangerous because it’s extremely addictive and high risk to your physical health.
That risk is from respiratory suppression. It has a higher risk of overdose than almost any other opioid on the market because it’s stronger. And if you consider nitazene is always illicitly manufactured and has no quality or purity controls there’s no safe way to use the drug. Not even if you’re at an overdose prevention center where you can be taken to the hospital.
For example Nitazene requires 4 doses of naloxone to reverse an overdose and Naloxone is sold 2 doses at a time. In a hospital medical professionals have to know what they’re dealing with to give you enough medication to help you recover.
But if you’re struggling with any drug it’s dangerous. Reaching out and asking for help can give you the tools to improve your life. That can mean getting therapy, help stabilizing your life, help quitting the drug and help finding new ways to cope with life. Even reaching out and talking to your doctor to ask for advice is a good start.
Asana Recovery is located in Orange County, California and offers detox, residential, and outpatient addiction treatment services in our modern and comfortable addiction treatment facilities. We also offer a dual diagnosis treatment program for those with anxiety. Contact us today to speak with one of our experienced addiction treatment specialists.
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