Following the 5^th International Forensic Drug Testing Lab Directors Symposium in Morocco, Colombo Plan and CFSRE will issue a new alert warning of the proliferation in the United States and Europe of a new, distinct class of potent synthetic opioid analgesics, the Orphines and their analogs. Orphines have a potency similar to or slightly higher than fentanyl. Due to their high potency, these substances carry a high risk of overdose and have implications for naloxone administration.

Their rise follows controls on other opioid classes by the Chinese government. For instance, when China issued class-wide scheduling of fentanyl-related substances on May 1, 2019, they immediately produced and globally trafficked a new class of opioids, the Nitazenes later in 2019 (see slide # 1). Likewise, with their recent class-wide scheduling of Nitazene compounds on July 1, 2025, China is now producing the Orphine class of opioids (see slide # 1).

Since 2025, Orphine analogs have appeared in seized drug samples and postmortem toxicological fluids in the following U.S. regions: Mid-West (Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota), Northeast (Pennsylvania, New York), Southern (Georgia, Louisiana), and Southwestern (Arizona).

The following seven (7) Orphine analogs have been detected in the United States: Brorphine, Chlorphine, N-Propionitrile-Chlorphine, Spirochlorphine, 5,6-Dicholoro Desmethylchlorphine, 5-6-Dicholoro Brorphine, and Spirobrorphine. Other Orphine analogs are evolving rapidly (see slide # 1). In addition to the United States, the European Union Drug Agency (EUDA) noted at the Morocco lab meeting that three (3) Orphine analogs are spreading throughout Europe.

It is important to note that once pressure is placed on China to class-wide schedule the Orphines, they have the capability to produce and traffic four other new, distinct classes of potent synthetic opioids:  Benzamides, Acetamides, Piperazines, Cinnamylpiperazines (see slide # 2).

In fact, China has already produced and distributed all seven classes of synthetic opioids listed in Slide # 2 in the United States since 2018. For instance, the Benzamide analog U-48800 appeared in 2018, the Cinnamylpiperazine analog 2-Methyl Ap-237 appeared in 2019, the Orphine analog Brorphine in 2020, etc. (see slide # 3)

The Fentanyls, Nitazenes, and Orphines have been trafficked extensively by China, whereas the other four opioid classes have sporadically appeared in the U.S. and globally, having been field tested by China and ready for global production and distribution once pressure is mounted to class schedule an individual class.