What is cychlorphine?

Cychlorphine is a lab-made opioid created by researchers in the nineteen sixties while searching for powerful painkillers. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration never approved it for medical use.

Why is it appearing now?

Cychlorphine is a Schedule I drug that cannot be possessed or sold under federal law. It has been increasingly linked to overdoses after China banned synthetic opioids called nitazenes.

When was it first detected?

People who track illicit drugs in the United States first identified cychlorphine in the drug supply in twenty twenty four. Reddit users were talking about it online that same year.

Deaths linked to cychlorphine

Cychlorphine was linked to a sixteen year old's death in San Francisco in April. In Knoxville, Tennessee, officials said it had been detected in about fifty suspected overdose deaths from July twenty twenty five to…

Public health warnings issued

Officials in Louisiana and Los Angeles County have issued public alerts warning residents of cychlorphine's risks. Los Angeles County warned that cychlorphine is being mixed into the illicit drug supply without people's knowledge.

How widespread is it?

In twenty twenty four, there was one report of cychlorphine in the U.S.drug supply.In twenty twenty five, there were sixteen reports in ten states.

How potent is cychlorphine?

Laboratory tests show cychlorphine is about ten times more potent than fentanyl. Fentanyl is about one hundred times more potent than morphine. Cychlorphine has not been studied in humans or animals.

“That's the only data that we have right now.”

Forms it takes in drug supply

Cychlorphine has been found in powders, rocks or crystals, liquids and counterfeit pills made to look like prescription medications. A very small amount can cause someone to stop breathing, Los Angeles County health officials said.

“Even a very small amount of cychlorphine can cause someone to stop breathing.”

Signs of overdose

Signs of cychlorphine overdose are similar to other opioids. Pupils become constricted. Breathing is slowed or shallow. Heart rate and other brain and spinal cord functions slow as the central nervous system becomes depressed.

Can naloxone help?

Yes, naloxone can reverse a cychlorphine overdose. But like fentanyl overdoses, cychlorphine's potency means treating an overdose can require multiple naloxone doses. Naloxone usually comes in two dose packages.

Detection challenges

Cychlorphine is not detected in routine hospital opioid urine screens or with drug test strips, so it can easily be missed.

Death toll rising

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy reported fifty five deaths linked to cychlorphine in twenty twenty five and through April twenty twenty six.

Difficulty determining true toll

Most samples testing positive for orphines also test positive for other drugs.If fentanyl is detected, a medical examiner might not test further, potentially missing cychlorphine's presence.

Unknown true scale

It is really unknown truly how many deaths there have been.But in that short period of time, that is a significant number for a newly emerging drug like this.

“It's really unknown truly how many deaths there have been, but certainly in that short period of time, that is a significant number for a newly emerging drug like this.”