New opioid cychlorphine raises alarm following death of San Francisco teen

By CBS Bay Area

In July, San Francisco recorded 34 fatal overdoses – the lowest monthly total since drug deaths were recorded in 2020. Now, a new street drug could slow down the city’s road to recovery.

On Monday, San Francisco police announced the four arrests of alleged dealers, booked on various drug and firearm charges.

“What’s more concerning is we’re now seeing an even deadlier opioid analogue,” Police Chief Derrick Lew said. “Enter the fake pharmaceutical black market: cychlorphine.”

Police said the suspects were in possession of cychlorphine, a drug that can go undetected by test strips and is possibly ten times stronger than fentanyl, which itself is 50 times stronger than heroin.

The suspects were arrested last week following an investigation into the fatal overdose of a 16-year-old earlier this year. On April 7, officers were called to a home on Bush Street after the boy’s mother found him dead from a suspected overdose.

Police said Monday that cychlorphine was found in the teenager’s system.

Investigators said cychlorphine was found in counterfeit pills mimicking Xanax, adderall, and Oxy’s.

“They are cobbled together with poisonous chemicals by drug dealers. They are pressed and colored to appear legitimate, but they are deadly,” Lew said.

For overdoses, naloxone or Narcan can work, but not effectively if not used immediately.

“Cychlorphine is responsive as an opioid to the reversal aspects of naloxone. Unfortunately, unfortunately people can pass away after they’ve stopped breathing for some time,” said Dr. Hilary Kunins of the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

In August, the Drug Enforcement Administration issued a temporary-scheduling-order, designating cychlorphine as a Schedule 1 narcotic, joining drugs like LSD and ecstasy. But the deadly drug is so new that it’s not even a Schedule 1 or 2 narcotic in California, which makes it difficult to charge anyone for possessing it.

District Attorney Brooke Jenkins called on state lawmakers to act quickly, following the teen’s death.

“That is not a barrier that we want to have to deal with, nor should we have to deal with. It is clear that this is a lethal drug, and there should be an accompanying state law that ensures it is illegal,” Jenkins said.

“San Francisco was caught flat-footed by the fentanyl crisis. We will not let that happen again,” Mayor Daniel Lurie said. “We need help spreading the word about this. As a father of a 15-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son, this hits very close to home, not just for my family but for every San Franciscan.”

On Sep. 8, officers arrested 46-year-old Nicholas Wallace and served a warrant at his home on O’Farrell Street. Police said they seized 34 suspected oxycodone pills and cocaine.

Also at the home, officers arrested 44-year-old Sharonee Hyson, who police said was on parole and possessing 11.7 grams of cocaine base and a loaded firearm.

The following day, officers served warrants at homes on Executive Park Boulevard and Newhall Street, arresting 46-year-old Leander Pitts and 39-year-old Starr Lamare. Officers said they seized more than 20,000 pills, including counterfeit Xanax, oxycodone, hydrocodone, cyclobenzaprine, fentanyl and other deadly narcotics.

MDMA, more commonly known as ecstasy, black-tar heroin, a semiautomatic assault rifle, a semiautomatic pistol and cash were also found, according to police.

In a statement, police said they are working with the Food and Drug Administration to determine if any of the counterfeit pills seized this month contained cychlorphine.