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UF Health is warning of synthetic opioid that's stronger than fentanyl

UF Health is warning about an opioid 50 times stronger than fentanyl that's starting to spread across the state.

It's called isotonitazene or ISO for short.

UF Health experts say the drug is being found in contaminated opioids and is spreading through the black market.

Kent Mathias is an addiction professor at UF. He says it's much easier to feel the effects of ISO compared to opioids like fantanyl and morphine.

"The other thing that means: It's harder to use the reversal agents to combat the overdose because it's stickier than fentanyl," he said. "So it's really hard to move around in your brain out of those areas that caused you to stop breathing."

Mathias says ISO was first found in Florida in Pasco County in 2021.

In July, police in West Palm Beach found 20 kilograms of the drug.

Aileyahu is a reporter for WUFT News who can be reached by calling 352-392-6397 or emailing news@wuft.org.