The Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) on Wednesday published a press release stressing the importance of the medication naxolone, commonly sold as Narcan, amid the spread of a new, China-linked opioid already associated with more than 30 fatal overdoses in Tennessee.
Cychlorphine, or N-Propionitrile, was first reported in East Tennessee last month, where the Knox County Regional Forensic Center (RFC) reported the new opioid was linked to 28 fatal overdoses.
TDH on Wednesday confirmed cychlorphine is now linked to more than 30 fatal overdoses across Tennessee since October 2025. They also noted the China-originated drug is 10 times stronger than fentanyl, which they noted was associated with over 1,600 overdose deaths in Tennessee in 2024. Researchers previously determined fentanyl was responsible for most of the 3,000 opioid overdose deaths within the state in 2022.
Despite the new drug being significantly more potent than fentanyl, TDH confirmed Narcan is effective at reversing a cychlorphine overdose, but advised that repeated doses may be required.
According to officials at the Knox County RFC, cychlorphine originated in China in 2024, and despite never being approved for medical use in the Asian nation, quickly spread to Eastern Europe as a recreational drug. It began appearing in the United States last year.
“It originated in China in 2024 and quickly moved to Europe before hitting the United States in the fourth quarter of 2025,” reported the RFC, before adding that the sophisticated testing capabilities in Knox County likely made it aware of cychlorphine’s spread before other health officials in Tennessee.
The warnings about the new drug come as the Trump administration has reportedly seen success at confronting the spread of fentanyl, with the White House classifying the drug as a weapon of mass destruction last year, and FBI Director Kash Patel reporting in November that his counterparts in China agreed to classify its precursors as controlled substances.
“The People’s Republic of China has fully designated and listed all 13 precursors utilized to make fentanyl. Furthermore, they have agreed to control seven chemical subsidiaries that are also utilized to produce this lethal drug,” Patel said last year.
The FBI director added, “These substances are now banned, and they will no longer be utilized by the Mexican drug trafficking organizations or any other DTOs around the world to make this drug.”
President Donald Trump previously claimed state-sanctioned cartels in Venezuela were smuggling such precursors when the administration began a bombing campaign targeting alleged drug vessels in international waters last year.
Former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro is currently awaiting trial on drug charges in New York after he was captured by the U.S. military in January.
– – –
Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
Thank you, God, that President Trump blew up the ships before they could reach our shores!!