# A wave of homemade synthetic drugs sweeps the US, deepening the crisis

https://mins.news/en/item/104868

- BBC News, 2026-10-18 05:04 UTC
- Health
- Original: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmx2wvyv5j17o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

> The US is confronting a deadly new drug epidemic. Users, dealers, prison and recovery workers describe how synthetic opioids are often mixed with animal tranquilizers, making overdoses harder to reverse. Overdose deaths fell from a peak of 110,000 in 2022 to about 70,000 last year, but the crisis is not over.

## Related coverage

- [America’s synthetic drug crisis](https://mins.news/en/video/105472) — BBC News, 2026-10-18