CHARLOTTE — There’s a frightening new drug on the streets that’s even more powerful than fentanyl, and it has already killed dozens of people in Tennessee and at least one in South Carolina.
Now, authorities and parents are sounding the alarm over this deadly synthetic drug, called cychlorphine.
Cammie Wolf Rice watches home videos of her son, Christopher, because she says they bring him back to her.
“His voice ... I just really miss his voice, hearing him,” Cammie said.
Christopher died from an opioid overdose, and his mother has fought for awareness. But now, there’s a new fight.
“It’s a chemical warfare attack on our country, and that’s words from the [Drug Enforcement Administration],” Cammie said.
The fight is against a powerful new drug that’s tied to more than 40 overdose deaths in Tennessee.
“We’ve got the Center for Forensic Science and Research and Education involved in it, and that’s where they found this first case of N-propenitriol chlorophine or cychlorphine,” said Chris Thomas with the Knox County Regional Forensic Center.
Cychlorphine is a synthetic opioid that is very potent, Thomas said.
“This is 10 times more powerful than fentanyl,” Thomas said.
“To hear that it’s out there now and it’s up to 10 times stronger than fentanyl is unimaginable to me,” Cammie said.
Numerous federal agencies have issued warnings about cychlorophine, along with the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, and even the sheriff’s office in McDowell County, North Carolina.
The DEA is used to drugs being hidden away, packed inside produce and pressed with fancy logos. But agents say cychlorphine is in a completely different league.
“Some of these pills look even better than what you would get at the pharmacies,” said Jae W. Chung, a special agent in charge with the DEA.
Chung says cychlorphine isn’t the only new synthetic opioid they’re seeing.
“When you are taking a pill, you really don’t know what’s in it, and you really are playing Russian roulette with your life,” Chung said.
Cammie said she wants more people to take note so no other mom has to lose their child.
“It’s happening right in our backyard, and it’s not a gunshot being shot, but yet our young people are dying,” she said.
Channel 9 asked the state medical examiner in North Carolina about any deaths from cychlorphine. The office responded, saying: “We do not have data specific to cychlorphine at this time.”
The office added that their surveillance systems aren’t designed to report “individual emerging compounds such as cychlorphine,” but they warned that doesn’t mean the drug isn’t here.
The DEA says to never trust a pill from a friend of a friend, even if it looks like something you’ve seen before.
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