CHARLESTON, WV (Hintin News) — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has written a letter to the administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration asking for more information on nitazenes, which are increasingly linked to deadly overdoses.
The Attorney General is seeking information to prevent these new illicit substances from gaining a foothold across West Virginia and the U.S.
Nitazenes, also known as benzimidazole opioids, is said to be 10 times fentanyl’s strength—fentanyl is already 50 times more powerful than heroin.
“We must gather all the available information out there about these illicit opioids so we can better understand the situation before it becomes the next wave of deadly substances coming into the country,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “The answers to these questions are critical at a time when synthetic opioids are already killing unprecedented numbers of Americans.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently published a report of nitazenes’ increasing involvement in deadly overdoses in Tennessee. There have been similar reports of increasing numbers of death involving nitazenes in the District of Columbia.
