Attorney General Alan Wilson asks FDA to take action on dangerous new synthetic drug

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson today sent a letter to the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asking for it to add the dangerous new drug cychlorphine to the list of controlled substances.

In a letter to FDA Commissioner Martin Makary, Attorney General Wilson wrote that cychlorphine, a new synthetic opioid, is responsible for one confirmed death in South Carolina and more than 40 in our neighboring state of Tennessee.

“Early reports indicate that cychlorphine possesses extreme potency, rapid onset, and could be significantly more deadly than fentanyl. Given these characteristics, I urge the FDA to move swiftly toward the appropriate scheduling of this substance under the Controlled Substances Act,” Attorney General Wilson wrote.

His letter says that adding cychlorphine to the list of controlled substances would improve law enforcement agencies’ and prosecutors’ ability to make cases against people who traffic, distribute, or make the drug. He also wrote that scheduling the drug will protect the community by enabling public health agencies to issue guidance, track emerging patterns of the drug’s spread and use, and coordinate responses before widespread harm occurs.

“Our communities are continually facing the devastating consequences of synthetic opioid misuse. These drugs, often manufactured in China, are being distributed by cartels that do not care who they kill in their illegal efforts to turn a profit. Taking proactive regulatory action on cychlorphine now would represent a meaningful step toward preventing another wave of avoidable loss and give prosecutors the tools they need to hold these traffickers accountable,” he wrote.

You can read the letter here.