Last updated : April 21, 2025
The term “street drugs” pertains to any drug that is accessible on the black market. Dealers purchase their wares in bulk and break them up into smaller packaging for sale on the streets. It makes no difference where you live. Even if it’s the most rural area in the nation, your family isn’t exempt. Rest assured that somebody is peddling drugs within your midst.
There were 108,000 deaths by overdose tracked in 2021, and over 75% 0f them involved some type of synthetic opioid. And, while cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin still plague us—now, with fentanyl mixed in them more often than not—we want to make sure that you’re aware of the other deadly drugs that have hit the black market. They’re being found hidden in other drugs too—and like fentanyl, without the users’ knowledge far more often than not—but people can purchase them outright as well.
Let’s take a look at six of them.
Isotonitazene (ISO)
This powerful synthetic opioid is estimated to be 20 to 100 times more powerful than fentanyl. The large range in potency is due to the fact that it’s manufactured illegally with no guidelines other than something likened to “a good measure of this and dump in some of that.”
First identified in the Midwest in 2019, this highly addictive and toxic drug has moved into the Southern states and up along the Eastern seaboard. ISO is found mixed into and sold as other drugs. It makes other drugs more potent and, of course, mixing ISO with them stretches the dealers’ profit margin.
ISO, in powder form, appears yellow, brown, or off-white in color. In some parts of the country, ISO has been discovered pressed into pill form and marketed as pharmaceutical medication. It carries a high risk of overdose.
Phenibut
Phenibut originally came from Russia. It’s used as a prescription drug there. However, due to potential dangers, it’s not prescribed to patients here in the United States. Online shopping eliminates that drawback though as it’s found in some supplements available for online purchase.
The drug effects people in the same way as benzodiazepines—think Xanax or Valium. It’s been likened to Ritalin and Adderall as well. Sold in the form of a dietary supplement, phenibut is sold in powder, tablet, or capsule form. Check those ingredient lists!
Xylazine
A strong sedative, xylazine was created by the Bayer Company back in 1962. It was never approved for human use though. It’s an animal tranquilizer but once humans discovered its “zombifying” effects, the word hit the streets—and so did the drug. Best known on the streets as “tranq dope,” xylazine has been found in other drugs. In fact, it’s often cut with opioid painkillers. It appears to extend the high of the synthetic opioids that it’s mixed in with.
It wasn’t approved for human use for a reason though. During clinical trials, the results produced in humans were far more severe than in animals. People experienced symptoms that included:
- Blurred vision
- Low blood pressure which led to dizziness
- Constriction of the pupils
- Heavy sedation
- Comatose effects
- Disorientation
- Staggering
- Respiratory depression
It’s important to note that injecting xylazine brings a high risk of skin deterioration.
Carfentanil
Carfentanil is most often shipped through the mail from drug cartels in China to customers in the United States. They actually use the United States mail because there is no tracking involved as there is with, say, United Parcel Service (UPS) or Fed Ex.
This opioid is reported to be 10,000 times more potent than morphine. No wonder it’s used to tranquilize elephants! It comes in a variety of forms—powder, tablet, spray, patch, or blotter paper.
Users often experience dizziness, clammy skin, shallow breathing, and, sadly, heart failure.
Flakka
Flakka is known as a “designer drug.” Designer drugs are devised to circumvent drug laws but the side effects they create tend to draw attention to the user in less than desirable ways.
This addictive stimulant is similar to bath salts causing both stimulant effects and psychotic symptoms. Paranoia and hallucinations can lead to violent aggression or self-injury. Flakka is sometimes referred to as “gravel” on the street. The pink or white crystals are either vaporized, snorted, eaten, or injected.
Fentanyl
Fentanyl has been all over the news for months now because it’s being smuggled into the country at an alarming rate. Not only are drug dealers marketing fentanyl in colorful, pressed pills to lure a younger crowd, but they’re purchasing it for cheap and mixing it into all manner of street drugs. Tens of thousands of people who died of a drug overdose in 2021 had fentanyl in their system at the time of their deaths.
Street drugs need to be locked up
When people purchase drugs on the street, they’re literally risking their lives with every transaction. Manufactured illegally, there’s no telling what kind of a drug cocktail people ingest into their bodies. And, oftentimes, should they realize that something isn’t right, there’s no time to seek help because of the high toxicity of the combination of drugs coursing through their body.
Users risk the following as well:
- Risk of bloodborne diseases
- Seizures
- Psychosis
- Breathing problems
- Irregular or erratic heart rate
- Coma
- Drug dependence
- Addiction
There is a road that leads away from drug use. It’s not an easy path to take, but one that you will never regret walking. Surrounding yourself with family and friends who support your new drug-free lifestyle will give you the strength to make it through the tough days.
And, don’t leave us out of the mix because we support your new lifestyle too! A drug-free life is a trip like none other. Bon voyage!
