A California family is raising the alarm about a new opioid 40 times stronger than fentanyl after their 22-year-old son died from the synthetic drug, amid rising overdose cases nationwide.
“He was lifeless in his car,” said Cindy Jacquet, describing her son Bryce to KTLA. “Maybe I could’ve saved him if I knew.”
Bryce’s body was found outside the family’s Stevenson Ranch home after a night out with friends. His parents, Cindy and Andrew Jacquet, said he had taken what he believed to be Xanax, which was actually laced with nitazene.
Nitazenes, or benzimidazole-opioids, have no approved medical use. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has labeled them a “public health threat.” Experts warn that Narcan, the opioid overdose reversal drug, isn’t always effective against nitazenes.
Andrew Jacquet said, “I’m absolutely positive there’s more kids that have died from it.”
Similar tragedies have occurred elsewhere. Grey McCallister, from the Houston suburbs, lost her 22-year-old son Lucci to nitazenes in January. Three months later, his close friend, Hunter, also died from the drug. She told KTLA that four overdoses occurred in just four months in the small boating community of Clearlake.
DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian Clark explained that young people nationwide are accessing nitazenes through local traffickers who order the chemicals from suppliers in China and other countries via the dark web and mix them into the local drug supply.
Deaths from nitazenes are worsening the ongoing opioid overdose epidemic in the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 105,000 people died from drug overdoses in 2023, with roughly 76% involving opioids. While the number of opioid deaths in 2023 was nearly ten times higher than in 1999, the CDC notes the death rate dropped 4% from 2022.
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