VIENNA, Austria – 24 April 2026: Recent developments in the global illicit drug market indicate a concerning diversification of synthetic opioids into new and often misleading product forms. These developments increase the risk of harm to people who use drugs and present significant challenges for health systems, forensic laboratories, and law enforcement. Recent reports to the UNODC Early Warning Advisory on New Psychoactive Substances (EWA)[1], including drug alerts from multiple regions, illustrate the range of product forms and their growing geographic spread.
The increasing presence of synthetic opioids in atypical or non-traditional matrices are of particular concern, as they are frequently misrepresented, associated with unpredictable dosing, and may enable exposure through routes not commonly associated with opioid use. These include:
- Powders misrepresented as or mixed with cocaine: In North America[1] and earlier in Australia.
Other forms have been circulating for longer on the illicit drug market, but reports continue:
Image: Different drug forms containing synthetic opioids
Sources: Drug Information Center Switzerland; BAS!S Frankfurt; The New South Wales Police Force; United States Food and Drug Administration, New South Wales Health; Observatório Brasileiro de Informações sobre Drogas Brazil and Public Health Scotland.
Between 2024 and 2026, twelve countries reported 2,679 synthetic opioid samples with information on product form to the UNODC EWA[2]; within this dataset, nitazenes were most frequently detected in tablet form (60 per cent), followed by powders (33 per cent), while orphine analogues were predominantly reported as powders (53 per cent) then tablets (38 per cent).
The increasing presence of synthetic opioids in products that are not typically associated with opioid use significantly increases overdose risk as opioid toxicity may go unrecognized. In this context, the awareness of opioid toxicity and access to lifesaving treatments such as naloxone are critical and may need to be expanded to people who use substances other than opioids, as well as to first responders and health professionals who may initially encounter atypical clinical presentations.
Comprehensive and timely monitoring by health services, law enforcement, customs authorities, service and/or research-based forensic and toxicology laboratories, civil society, and affected communities remains essential, as reflected by the diverse contributors to EWA. From a laboratory perspective, timely communication of analytical findings, including preliminary or partial identifications where potent opioids are suspected, is critical to early warning, particularly when substances are detected in unusual matrices or are sold under the name or appearance of other drugs. Non-targeted or broad screening approaches may be especially valuable in identifying such emerging threats.
Substances detected in new or unexpected forms, particularly where misrepresentation is involved, represent key early warning signals and should be prioritised for rapid reporting and dissemination. Laboratories may share preliminary analytical findings while substance identification is ongoing, as reflected in drug alerts issued in countries such as New Zealand and Switzerland. The UNODC guidance on the role of drug analysis laboratories in early warning systems provides practical recommendations to support this process and to facilitate coordinated responses to emerging synthetic opioid threats.
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[1] The examples provided are illustrative and not exhaustive and are impacted by varying analytical capacity, surveillance coverage, and reporting practices across regions. The list of drug forms presented is based on information from 2024-2026 documented in the UNODC Early Warning Advisory on New Psychoactive Substances, Database including the Tox-Portal (accessed on 9 April 2026).
[2] UNODC EWA is capturing the main forms of drug samples (powder, tablet, liquid, plants, other) where data are available. The data collection is ongoing and at present a limited number of countries report on forms, therefore there is not yet an exhaustive representation.