Newtown Police Chief Tom Synan says a synthetic opioid estimated to be four to 10 times as potent as fentanyl has been showing up in Hamilton County drug samples for about a year.

Cychlorphine, part of a new class of synthetic opioids called orphines, was detected through drug testing by the Hamilton County Addiction Response Coalition, Synan told WLWT in a report published Monday, Sept. 28. As we reported that same day, Ohio health officials had begun sounding the alarm statewide.

"It's something Hamilton County Addiction Response Coalition picked up on about a year ago with drug testing," Synan said.

A Hamilton County Public Health spokesperson told WLWT that in the limited samples where cychlorphine has been found locally, it appeared mixed with fentanyl. The drug has not been detected on college campuses in Greater Cincinnati, though officials are discussing prevention efforts.

Dr. Mike Kalfas, an addiction specialist with St. Elizabeth Physicians, called cychlorphine "the newest monster to come on the scene." Kalfas said the drug can be up to 10 times more potent than fentanyl.

That potency carries a direct consequence for overdose response. Naloxone, commonly sold as Narcan, can still reverse a cychlorphine overdose, but officials warn multiple doses may be needed. Anyone who suspects an overdose should administer naloxone, call 911 and stay with the person until paramedics arrive.

Officials also warned that any pill not obtained from a licensed pharmacy should be considered potentially deadly. Counterfeit pills can contain cychlorphine, fentanyl or other substances without the user's knowledge. The drug does not show up on standard fentanyl test strips, according to the Mississippi Free Press, which reported that Tennessee has had confirmed fatalities from cychlorphine.

Kentucky's Office of Homeland Security issued its own cychlorphine warning in February, according to the WLWT report.

Synan, who has more than 30 years in law enforcement, helped form the Hamilton County Addiction Response Coalition after watching a mother and three of her sons die from overdoses one by one. In an August interview with Local 12, he recalled the toll: "This family dies. I feel helpless as a first responder, as a police officer." He said he lacked the resources to connect families with help and described the losses as a community tragedy repeated over and over.

The coalition has since grown to more than 1,100 members and 400 agencies. Hamilton County overdose deaths dropped from 570 in 2017 to 194 in 2025, according to coalition data reported in August.