Gravitas | 55 deaths linked to new super drug: America faces an even deadlier opioid threat

America's drug crisis has now taken a deadlier turn. A synthetic opioid called cychlorphine has been detected in 19 US states and has resulted in at least 55 deaths nationally since last year, according to the country's federal anti-drug agency.

Tennessee was an early hotspot, with at least 41 overdose deaths reported between July 2025 and February 2026. The other states that have seen the most such overdose cases are Ohio and Texas. Last week, an overdose death was reported in California's Los Angeles.

But what makes this opioid so lethal?

Even consuming a very small amount of this drug can slow someone to stop breathing. It can cause profound sedation as well as death. Additionally, it is at least ten times more potent than fentanyl.

It is worth noting that this drug was first identified in the illicit US drug market in 2024 and has not been approved for medical use.

What makes it more dangerous is that standard fentanyl testing strips cannot detect it. This means that people can unknowingly consume it without even realising they have been exposed to danger.

So far, this drug has been discovered in several forms, including powders, counterfeit prescription pills, liquids and rock-like crystals.

Now, the danger of synthetic opioids cannot be understated. According to America's national public health agency, the CDC, synthetic opioids are the primary driver of overdose deaths in the US.

CDC data show that a staggering eight hundred thousand people in the US died from opioid overdose from 1999 to 2023. An average of 217 people die on a daily basis due to this. Overall, there has been an increase in fentanyl-linked deaths since 2013.

Now, what is the way to deal with cychlorphine overdose cases?

Despite the drug's extreme potency, US health authorities stressed that a medication called naloxone can be used to reverse the effects of the drug overdose.

However, multiple doses of this medication, which is available as a nasal spray and injection, may be necessary to restore breathing.