nitazene

This is the name for a new class of synthetic opioids appearing as a white powder, a crystalline solid, or a brownish powder.  It can be sold as tablets.  Nitazine is similar to fentanyl, another synthetic opioid which was approved for medical use in the US in the 1960s and has gone on to cause many overdose deaths.  Like fentanyl, nitazene was developed as an analgesic but was never approved for therapeutic purpose because of the high risk of overdose. A characteristic of nitazine is its high potency.

So a new designer drug appearing in the recreational drugs on offer is a cause for alarm, particularly because the strength of the drug seems so unpredictable. You could be taking a tab that gives you a pleasant high or one that kills you.