First came fentanyl. Then xylazine, aka “tranq,” a veterinary sedative. Will nitazines, a dangerous new class of synthetic opioid, infiltrate the drug supply next? 

“Our theory is, it’s just a matter of time,” says Brian Dawson, M.D., an addiction medicine specialist and Chief Medical Officer for Ideal Option. “We could be looking at the very beginning of a nitazine wave.”