A New Opioid That May Be Stronger Than Fentanyl Is Spreading in the US
Before fentanyl, there was heroin. Now, a new drug is emerging that may be more potent still. It's called cychlorphine. It's showing up on college campuses, inside fake prescription pills, and mixed into the regular drug supply — and most test strips and hospital drug screens can't detect it at all.
The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy issued a formal drug threat notice earlier this year confirming cychlorphine has now been detected in every region of the United States. It may be up to ten times more potent than fentanyl. At least 55 deaths in 2025 and 2026 have been linked to the drug — and because it doesn't show up on standard tests, that number is almost certainly an undercount.
"One pill can kill," said Brian Mulcahy, assistant special agent with the Columbus DEA office. "This synthetic opioid can be as much as ten times more potent than fentanyl, which has really devastated our country in the last several years."
What Cychlorphine Is
Cychlorphine isn't a fentanyl analog. It belongs to an entirely different chemical family called orphines — specifically benzimidazolone synthetic opioids — which means it works on the same opioid receptors in the brain but has a distinct molecular structure from fentanyl. This distinction matters enormously from a detection standpoint: the test strips widely distributed at harm reduction programs and used in routine emergency room urine screens were designed to detect fentanyl and its analogs. Cychlorphine is a different class entirely. It doesn't register.
A paper published in the Journal of Pain Research in 2026 specifically raised the alarm about this gap: when an overdose patient doesn't respond the way a fentanyl overdose typically would, clinicians might not know to look for a different drug — and standard testing won't find it.
Cychlorphine appeared in 106 drug samples from 10 states in 2025, up from a single sample in 2024. That's a 106-fold increase in detections in one year. The ONDCP's threat notice suggests it has now spread beyond those initial states across all regions.
How It's Getting Into the Drug Supply
The danger with cychlorphine mirrors the danger pattern that made fentanyl so deadly: people often don't know they're taking it.
The drug has been found on its own, mixed with fentanyl, cut into methamphetamine and cocaine, and pressed into counterfeit pills designed to look like prescription medications — the same "rainbow pill" distribution method that killed tens of thousands of fentanyl victims. When someone buys what looks like a Xanax or an Adderall from an unverified source and it contains cychlorphine, they have no idea. The dose required to cause a fatal overdose is tiny.
College campuses have become a specific focus of warning because access to counterfeit pills and unverified substances is particularly common in those environments. The DEA has been taking its warning campaign directly to universities — the Ohio State University campus in Columbus was one recent stop — and two University of Mississippi students died earlier this week in deaths linked to cychlorphine, according to health officials in the Miami Valley.
The drug has been detected at schools in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Ohio, among others. Reports from the Auburn University campus first brought the drug to wider media attention last week.
What to Actually Do
Naloxone — Narcan — is still effective against cychlorphine. The drug acts on the same opioid receptors, so the same reversal agent works. But because of cychlorphine's higher potency, multiple doses of naloxone may be needed, and emergency care is critical even after reversal.
Most college campuses now have naloxone available — at campus health centers, residence halls, and distributed through student organizations. Mulcahy emphasized that students knowing where to find it and being willing to use it for a friend is one of the most important protective factors.
The harder message — the one public health officials have been trying to communicate since fentanyl took hold — is that no pill from an unverified source is safe. Not pills that look like prescriptions. Not recreational drugs purchased from someone who isn't a licensed pharmacy. The illicit drug supply is contaminated in ways that aren't visible, aren't predictable, and now include a drug that standard testing can't even find.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use, SAMHSA's National Helpline is available 24/7 at 1-800-662-4357. It is free, confidential, and provides referrals to local treatment and support services.
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