A wave of homemade, synthetic drugs sweeps US and deepens crisis
News Source
β’Sun, 18 Oct 2026 05:04:31 GMT
π° What Happened
A BBC reporter spent days with a 48-year-old army veteran called Mike in Columbus, Ohio. Mike smokes fentanyl in an alley in the Linden neighbourhood. Each hit costs three or four dollars.
Mike has been addicted to opioids for 20 years. He said the drug makes people do almost anything, and that too much can kill you before anyone can help.
The BBC also filmed police in Cook County during an early morning raid. The report is part of a series on America's synthetic drug wave.
π The Backstory
Fentanyl is made in labs, not grown from plants. It is 50 to 100 times stronger than heroin, so a tiny amount can kill.
Dealers now mix it with synthetic tranquillisers. These make an overdose harder to reverse, because the usual rescue medicine may not work.
Fentanyl is easy to make in small labs. Officials say some of the drug is now mixed at home in basements and bathtubs, which makes the supply harder to track.
π― Why It Matters
Cheap, strong drugs are reaching more towns, and one bad dose can kill. Families and health workers say rescue medicines work less often now.
A BBC reporter spent days with a 48-year-old army veteran called Mike in Columbus, Ohio. Mike smokes fentanyl in an alley in the Linden neighbourhood. Each hit costs three or four dollars.
Mike has been addicted to opioids for 20 years. He said the drug makes people do almost anything, and that too much can kill you before anyone can help.
The BBC also filmed police in Cook County during an early morning raid. The report is part of a series on America's synthetic drug wave.
Fentanyl is made in labs, not grown from plants. It is 50 to 100 times stronger than heroin, so a tiny amount can kill.
Dealers now mix it with synthetic tranquillisers. These make an overdose harder to reverse, because the usual rescue medicine may not work.
Fentanyl is easy to make in small labs. Officials say some of the drug is now mixed at home in basements and bathtubs, which makes the supply harder to track.
Cheap, strong drugs are reaching more towns, and one bad dose can kill. Families and health workers say rescue medicines work less often now.