A wave of homemade, synthetic drugs sweeps US and deepens crisis

The story in context

Unpredictable mixtures of synthetic drugs are creating new dangers in the United States even as overdose deaths decline, BBC News reported on 18 October 2026. Reporting from Columbus, Ohio, and Chicago, the broadcaster described fentanyl combined with animal tranquillisers, stimulants contaminated with opioids and synthetic cannabinoids entering jail. It put annual overdose deaths at about 70,000 in 2025, compared with 110,000 in 2022.

The BBC identified xylazine and medetomidine as particular concerns because naloxone, which reverses opioid overdoses, does not reverse these sedatives’ effects. Xylazine can also cause severe skin wounds. In Columbus, a drug kit submitted by Mike, a 48-year-old army veteran with a long history of opioid use, tested positive for medetomidine through a sampling programme involving the Hope Dealer Community recovery group and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hope Dealer Community leader Scott Sanders told the BBC that people buying stimulants could unknowingly receive fentanyl or other mixtures. His group provides recovery support and helps monitor the local drug supply. In the Chicago area, Liv4Lali recovery worker Karen Bell described increasingly unpredictable substances and serious wounds among users. Both organisations distribute strips to test drugs for potentially dangerous additives.

At Cook County jail, Sheriff Tom Dart linked a surge in fatal seizures in 2023 to synthetic cannabinoids carried on drug-soaked paper. Eight inmates died that year, compared with the facility’s usual one or two annual overdose deaths, according to the report. The jail now screens incoming mail for moisture. Dart argued that enforcement focused on supply cannot resolve a crisis increasingly involving domestically made synthetics, and called for substantial addiction treatment alongside policing.