Nitazenes, developed over 60 years ago but never approved for medical use due to their extreme danger, have been increasingly detected in counterfeit drugs and street supplies since first appearing in the U.S. in 2019.

The DEA has recognized the danger of nitazenes by including them in its 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment, highlighting their role in rising overdose deaths and their presence in counterfeit pills.

This bill aims to classify nitazenes as Schedule I substances, closing legal loopholes that traffickers exploit by slightly altering their chemical structures, and to prevent their proliferation.

Tracking and combating nitazenes is complicated because routine drug tests often fail to detect them, making enforcement and overdose prevention more challenging.

Vindman and Baumgartner visited the DEA’s Clandestine Lab at Quantico to assess enforcement needs and emphasized the importance of staying ahead of traffickers who quickly adapt to law enforcement efforts.

Loopholes in federal law allow traffickers to slightly modify nitazene chemicals to evade detection, underscoring the need for regulatory updates.

Nitazenes are resistant to standard overdose reversal drugs like naloxone, which has contributed to clusters of overdose deaths across the U.S.

Today, bipartisan legislation called the Nitazene Control Act has been introduced by Rep. Eugene Vindman and Rep. Michael Baumgartner to combat the rising threat of nitazenes, synthetic opioids that are over 40 times more potent than fentanyl.

The legislation aims to empower law enforcement with proactive tools to prevent nitazenes from establishing a foothold similar to fentanyl, while still permitting legitimate medical research.

Lawmakers emphasize the urgency of acting now to prevent nitazenes from becoming the next major wave of the opioid crisis, especially given their increasing appearance in fake pills and street drugs.

Developed in the 1950s as potential painkillers, nitazenes are not approved for medical use due to their high potency and danger, and their detection in the U.S. drug supply has risen sharply since 2019.

This legislative effort marks the first bipartisan initiative specifically targeting nitazenes and their dangerous impact, with representatives highlighting the importance of bipartisan cooperation in addressing this emerging threat.