On average, one new synthetic drug comes to the black market. These drugs are often referred to as Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) in the medical community, Research Chemicals (RC) in the drug using crowd, or “Legal Highs” by some lay people.

No matter what you call it, it is concerning that so many of these new drugs are coming to the market so quickly. This week’s newest drug coming to the black market is a drug called N-Pyrrolidino Etonitazene.  N-Pyrrolidino Etonitazene is classified as a novel opioid of the benzimidazole sub-class and is structurally dissimilar from fentanyl. According to NPS Discovery, Structurally similar compounds include etonitazene, metonitazene, and isotonitazene. Etonitazene and its analogue synthetic opioids were first synthesized and reported in the literature in the 1950s.1 Data suggest that this group of analogues can have potency similar to or greater than fentanyl.2,3 Recent in vitro data suggest that N-pyrrolidino etonitazene is similar in potency to etonitazene (unpublished data from M. Vandeputte and C. Stove). N-Pyrrolidino Etonitazene is not explicitly scheduled in the United States; however, etonitazene and isotonitazene are Schedule I substances.

Where N-Pyrrolidino Etonitazene Was Discovered

N-Pyrrolidino Etonitazene was discovered in a blood sample in West Virginia in March 2021. Although only one blood sample was discovered, this is often the warning sign of more cases about to emerge. These types of drugs are often bought through the dark web or through the open web. I found this drug for sale on the open web after a quick google search. The supplier is a notorious Chinese chemical supplier.