Synthetic opioids are often more deadly than other kinds of common designer drugs, such as artificial cannabinoids or stimulants known as bath salts. Photo: Pfizer By about 1974, Dr. Szmuszkovicz created a chemical Upjohn dubbed U-47700 at a company lab in Kalamazoo, Mich. The company, as well as six others that list synthetic drugs for sale, didn’t respond to emails seeking comment. NMS Labs detected U-47700 in November 2015 while testing blood samples from four different states at its facility outside Philadelphia. U-47700 closely resembles a synthetic opioid called AH-7921—another research relic—which NMS had started watching for last year.

Source: Wall Street Journal November 04, 2016 14:24 UTC