The streets of San Francisco are awash with a brand new drug referred to as ISO that’s twenty instances stronger than lethal fentanyl – and officers are sounding the alarm.
The killer counterfeit opioid isotonitazene – identified on the streets as ISO – claimed its first life within the drug-ravaged metropolis in April, San Francisco Well being Division officers mentioned in an alert issued that month.
San Francisco well being officers mentioned ISO was blended with one other artificial opioid referred to as cychlorphine in the overdose dying introduced April 23. ISO is reasonable and lots of instances extra highly effective than fentanyl – making for a possible disaster.
“Even a single tablet can comprise a deadly dose,” the officers mentioned of their alert, which famous that the 2 artificial opioids wouldn’t present up in checks that point out the presence of fentanyl, making them much more harmful as a result of they’re undetectable.
A stunning video posted on-line confirmed throngs of stupefied customers reeling from the consequences of the lethal drug within the metropolis’s infamous Tenderloin district.
Within the video created by Manhattan Institute author Christopher Rufo, addicts are seen stooping over from the consequences of the highly effective drug and even mendacity corpselike on the sidewalk.
Rufo mentioned a supplier advised him ISO is gaining popularity on the streets.
“For the final ten years, it’s been an arms race for growing the energy of opioids, from heroin to fentanyl, and now, to ISO,” mentioned Rufo. “It’s devastating California cities.”
In keeping with the Middle for Forensic Science Analysis and Training, isotonitazene, which is also referred to as Nitazine, is roughly 20 instances stronger than fentanyl. It could be smoked, used intravenously or taken in a tablet.
Officers with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration final month issued a brand new warning about ISO and different artificial medicine that the DEA says could also be blended with fentanyl.
Obtain The California Put up App, comply with us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters
California Put up Information: Fb, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedIn
California Put up Sports activities Fb, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X
California Put up Opinion
California Put up Newsletters: Enroll right here!
California Put up App: Obtain right here!
Residence supply: Enroll right here!
Web page Six Hollywood: Enroll right here!
“These rising artificial medicine will be considerably extra highly effective than fentanyl and vastly improve the danger of struggling a deadly overdose,” the advisory warned, noting that customers who OD on the medicine will not be conscious of the overdose-reversal drug naloxone.
In keeping with the DEA, ISO initially emerged in U.S. illicit drug markets in 2019, when it was first recognized in seizures of unlawful medicine by legislation enforcement. ISO isn’t accredited for medical use and has no industrial use.
ISO is a “critical concern to the general public security,” the DEA mentioned in one other bulletin issued on the drug in December 2025.
The DEA has counted greater than 900 stories of isotonitazene because it was initially recognized by the company in 2019, together with 42 data in 2019, a peak of 358 stories in 2021, and 43 stories in 2024, the newest yr for which the info was accessible.
Regulation enforcement officers in Los Angeles mentioned ISO has not but grow to be a menace in California’s greatest metropolis, however one police supply mentioned that “bathtub pharmacists” there are more and more mixing fentanyl with a wide range of different medicine, together with animal tranquilizers.
Los Angeles well being officers blame fentanyl for simply over half of all drug and alcohol deaths within the metropolis. Police have not too long ago mounted a push to cleanse MacArthur Park in downtown LA of the crowds of customers who buy and devour medicine there.
Jacqui Berlinn, who cofounded the San Francisco-based activist group Moms Towards Drug Habit and Deaths, mentioned San Francisco police must be doing extra to wash up the streets of that metropolis.
Berlinn mentioned the rise of ISO is especially threatening as a result of the drug is so highly effective and it could’t be detected by fentanyl check kits.
“It’s extremely scary as a result of it’s taking the addicts unaware,” mentioned Berlinn.
