North Louisiana Crime Lab officials said on April 28 that a new synthetic opioid known as cychlorphine is spreading across north Louisiana, with recent testing showing the drug in multiple jurisdictions. The lab said the issue is not an isolated issue but a developing trend.
Cychlorphine belongs to a class of synthetic opioids known as orphines, and investigators said it has turned up in counterfeit oxycodone tablets often marked M30 or K56. The lab warned that users may have no idea what they are taking, and said testing data suggests the drug may be more potent than fentanyl.
The warning lands amid a wider counterfeit-pill market that continues to blur the line between medicine and poison. The lab said illegal pills are not what they appear to be, and added that most of the tablets they get do not contain what they claim. That means a pill sold as oxycodone can instead contain a far deadlier synthetic opioid, with no way for the buyer to know until it is too late.
The concern is not just the spread of a new drug but the speed with which it is moving through the region. The North Louisiana Crime Lab said cychlorphine has been detected across multiple jurisdictions in north Louisiana, a sign the problem is broadening rather than staying in one place. In its warning, the lab said one pill can be enough to cause a fatal overdose.
That is the answer for anyone trying to judge whether this is a passing scare or a real shift in the drug supply: it is a real shift. The lab’s message was blunt because the risk is blunt as well. If a pill carries cychlorphine instead of what it claims, the dose on the street may already be enough to kill.