Chicago Provider Warns of Cychlorphine, a Lab-Made Opioid Fentanyl Test Strips Cannot Detect

A highly potent lab-made opioid is showing up in Chicago-area drugs, and the standard test strips people use to check their supply cannot catch it.

Jon Schultz, an advanced practice provider at Rush University Medical Center, says cychlorphine is "much more potent than other opioids, even more potent than fentanyl." He says it has already been found in Chicago's drug supply, in cocaine, heroin and counterfeit prescription pills.

Users often don't know it's there

Schultz's central warning is that people are not choosing this drug. "People aren't seeking out cychlorphine on its own," he said. "It's something that normally, without their knowledge, is getting into their drug supply."

That matters most for people who think they are using something else. Someone buying cocaine or a pill sold as a legitimate prescription may have no idea what else is in it.

Overdose signs, Schultz said, can look like a fentanyl overdose. The drug can slow breathing and heart rate, cause the person to become less responsive, and lead to blue coloring around the mouth.

The test-strip gap

Current test strips can detect fentanyl and some other opioids. They cannot yet detect cychlorphine.

A person could test a batch, get a negative result and wrongly conclude it is safe. Schultz flagged that false reassurance as a core danger.

Little is known about the drug

Cychlorphine was developed about 65 years ago but was never approved for human use, Schultz said. That leaves less research on the drug than exists for fentanyl or other well-studied opioids.

"It's the unknown that is the scary thing here," he said.

What Schultz says to do

His guidance is practical:

• Keep naloxone, also known as Narcan, available. Schultz says it can work against cychlorphine, but it may take multiple doses.
• Call 911 in addition to giving naloxone.
• Do not use drugs alone.
• Anyone seeking help should talk with a medical provider or treatment professional.

"Keep using Narcan. Keep it on hand," he said. "In addition to administering Narcan, it's really important to call 911."

The national picture

The Chicago warning lands during a mixed stretch in the overdose fight. The BBC reports that U.S. drug overdose deaths have fallen from a peak of around 110,000 in 2022 to roughly 70,000 last year.

The BBC also reports, however, that America's decades-long drug crisis may be accelerating, and that authorities are increasingly concerned about cheaper, more powerful synthetic drugs, including an animal tranquilliser called tranq. The BBC's Quentin Sommerville has reported from Chicago's South Side, where communities are battling the crisis.

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump pledged a crackdown on drug cartels, proscribing many as terrorist organisations, according to the BBC. A drug like cychlorphine, a lab-made opioid that surfaces inside other drugs, shows the enforcement challenge. The product changes faster than the tools built to catch it, and the end user often cannot tell what he or she is taking.

The falling death toll from the 2022 peak is real, and so is the concern from Schultz and the authorities the BBC cites that the supply is shifting toward stronger and less predictable compounds. A declining national total does not tell a person in Chicago whether the pill in their hand has been laced with something no strip can detect.

What remains open

Two questions are unanswered. One is how widespread cychlorphine is in the city's supply. Schultz says it is present but gave no estimate of how much. The other is when a reliable test strip will exist. Until one does, the only safeguards Schultz offers are naloxone on hand, a call to 911 and not using alone.