Missouri health officials are warning residents about a dangerous new opioid called cychlorphine that is turning up in the illicit drug supply across the country, with the state now appearing on a federal map tracking the substance. The warning comes as the synthetic opioid, believed to be up to 10 times more potent than fentanyl, spreads through communities far beyond where it was first identified — often without users ever knowing it is there.
According to FOX 2, the Missouri Department of Public Safety reported that health officials have raised concerns about cychlorphine as part of a broader warning about a dangerous new opioid impacting communities nationwide. Missouri appears on a federal map of cychlorphine drug-lab reports from last year, according to KY3, though the station notes that local doctors and police have not confirmed an actual case in the area.
Cychlorphine is described as an emerging synthetic opioid identified in the illicit drug supply across the United States, according to Addiction Policy Forum. The organization reports the drug has been found on its own and mixed into fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and counterfeit pills — often without the person using it ever realizing what they're actually taking.
Why This Drug Is So Hard to Detect
What makes cychlorphine especially dangerous, per the same organization, is that it is not detected by common drug test strips, including fentanyl test strips, nor by routine hospital opioid urine screens. That means someone could test a substance for fentanyl, get a clean result, and still be exposed to a far more potent opioid hiding inside it. The drug can also show up in powders, counterfeit tablets, rocks or crystals, and liquids, according to KTLA.
Once ingested, cychlorphine suppresses breathing and can cause life-threatening respiratory and cardiovascular depression, per the FOX 2 report. Addiction Policy Forum describes the effect as profound sedation and respiratory depression that can turn fatal without a rapid response. Because the drug is so potent, more than one dose of naloxone may be needed to reverse an overdose — a warning officials have repeated as they urge residents to carry the opioid-reversal medication and treat any illicit drug as a potential risk.
Conflicting Numbers on How Far It Has Spread
Just how widespread cychlorphine has become depends on which account you read. The Office of National Drug Control Policy, through Addiction Policy Forum, reported 106 drug-supply reports across 10 states in 2025, while ABC 17 News similarly put the figure at 10 states, including Missouri, that same year. KTLA, however, reported that cychlorphine had been detected in 19 states since becoming known in the U.S. illicit drug supply in 2024, and CNN put the number even higher, saying the drug had been seen in about 25 states across the country. U.S. News & World Report separately noted that cychlorphine was found in 106 drug samples from 10 states in 2025, up from a single sample in 2024 — a dramatic jump that underscores how quickly the drug has moved through the supply, even as the exact state count remains unsettled.
Death counts linked to the drug also vary by source. Addiction Policy Forum reported cychlorphine had been linked to at least 55 deaths nationally from 2025 to 2026, a figure that FOX 2 also tied to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which reported the linked-death information in April. CNN, meanwhile, reported a much higher toll — at least 122 deaths in the United States since July 2025. The discrepancy between the two counts has not been reconciled in available reporting.
Deaths Already Confirmed Elsewhere
While Missouri has not had a confirmed local case, other states have already recorded fatalities. Los Angeles County reported its first death linked to cychlorphine after the county coroner identified the drug as the cause, KTLA reported. Another death caused by the drug was reported in Northern California in April 2026, according to the same outlet. In Tennessee, at least 41 overdose deaths were tied to cychlorphine between July 2025 and February 2026.
Health officials continue to stress the same basic safety message as cychlorphine's footprint grows: carry naloxone, know that more than one dose might be needed, and treat any illicit substance as a potential risk, regardless of what it looks like or how it's sold. For now, Missouri's connection to the drug remains limited to its appearance on the federal lab-report map, with no confirmed local case reported by doctors or police as of KY3's account.
