‘Frankenstein opioid’ street drugs now surfacing in Ohio
A chilling bulletin dated April 20 from Ohio’s attorney general is laced with urgency about a new kind of synthetic street drug. It’s the kind of urgency echoed by Newtown Police Chief and opioid expert Tom Synan.”If you are not getting your prescription medication from a doctor or a pharmacist, you are in danger,” Synan said recently.That danger could soon skyrocket, if a group of drugs known as nitazene compounds, hits southwest Ohio.”It’s Iso, nitazenes — you ever heard of that?” WLWT investigative reporter Todd Dykes asked Casharay Pryor of Price Hill.”I never even heard of that one,” Pryor said.The drugs are so new, that most people Dykes talked to have no idea they exist.”I have not heard of it,” Shiaire Dorsey of Westwood said.That’s not the case among agents with Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation.According to BCI, the state has seen 143 cases involving nitazenes so far this year. During the same time last year, there were only 27 cases. The spike represents an increase of 430 percent.”It’s a synthetic opioid similar to that of fentanyl. So it’s much more potent than morphine and other drugs,” said Jason Schumacher, assistant special agent in charge of the DEA’s office in Cincinnati.In his bulletin, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost called nitazenes “Frankenstein opioids.” He said, “Recent studies show nitazene compounds can be anywhere from 1.5 to 40 times more potent than fentanyl.”Local experts said the new compound has, so far, not shown up on Greater Cincinnati streets in a significant way. But there’s worry that could change.”Essentially it’s a manmade drug. And our concern at the DEA is it could be mass-produced,” Schumacher said.Schumacher said he and his team are trying to avoid any worst-case scenarios when it comes to this new synthetic drug.”It’s a drug that we’re absolutely focusing on, similar to fentanyl,” Schumacher said.While relatively few cases of nitazene use have been reported in Greater Cincinnati, a BCI publication indicates variations of the drug have shown up in Butler, Clermont and Warren Counties this year. The two Ohio counties that are home to Dayton and Portsmouth have seen the most nitazene incidents so far.
A chilling bulletin dated April 20 from Ohio’s attorney general is laced with urgency about a new kind of synthetic street drug. It’s the kind of urgency echoed by Newtown Police Chief and opioid expert Tom Synan.
“If you are not getting your prescription medication from a doctor or a pharmacist, you are in danger,” Synan said recently.
That danger could soon skyrocket, if a group of drugs known as nitazene compounds, hits southwest Ohio.
“It’s Iso, nitazenes — you ever heard of that?” WLWT investigative reporter Todd Dykes asked Casharay Pryor of Price Hill.
“I never even heard of that one,” Pryor said.
The drugs are so new, that most people Dykes talked to have no idea they exist.
“I have not heard of it,” Shiaire Dorsey of Westwood said.
That’s not the case among agents with Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
According to BCI, the state has seen 143 cases involving nitazenes so far this year. During the same time last year, there were only 27 cases. The spike represents an increase of 430 percent.
“It’s a synthetic opioid similar to that of fentanyl. So it’s much more potent than morphine and other drugs,” said Jason Schumacher, assistant special agent in charge of the DEA’s office in Cincinnati.
In his bulletin, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost called nitazenes “Frankenstein opioids.”
He said, “Recent studies show nitazene compounds can be anywhere from 1.5 to 40 times more potent than fentanyl.”
Local experts said the new compound has, so far, not shown up on Greater Cincinnati streets in a significant way. But there’s worry that could change.
“Essentially it’s a manmade drug. And our concern at the DEA is it could be mass-produced,” Schumacher said.
Schumacher said he and his team are trying to avoid any worst-case scenarios when it comes to this new synthetic drug.
“It’s a drug that we’re absolutely focusing on, similar to fentanyl,” Schumacher said.
While relatively few cases of nitazene use have been reported in Greater Cincinnati, a BCI publication indicates variations of the drug have shown up in Butler, Clermont and Warren Counties this year. The two Ohio counties that are home to Dayton and Portsmouth have seen the most nitazene incidents so far.
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