2025-08-13
18 分钟There's a drug that's fueling a growing crisis of overdose deaths.
And it's not fentanyl.
A new substance is emerging in illicit drug markets.
It's the most deadly drug you've probably never heard of.
It's an opioid called nitazines.
A synthetic opioid so potent that this makes fentanyl look weak.
And it's been killing hundreds of people.
Super strength synthetic opioid drugs linked to hundreds of deaths have been found in samples of fake medicines sold online.
The drug has led to deaths and overdoses all over the world,
from West Africa to Australia, even some in the U.S.
But it's had the most impact in Europe.
Europe for a long time has kind of evaded the type of...
opioid crisis that has hit the U.S. and that the U.S. has been suffering under for three decades now.
That's our colleague Suna Rasmussen, who covers security and organized crime.
And once these nitrosines started hitting the streets of Europe and overdoses just shot up in those countries and those communities where they landed,
I think a lot of people watching this stuff...
was concerned about whether this might be Europe's opioid moment.
Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power.
I'm Jessica Mendoza.
It's Tuesday, August 12th.