What is cychlorphine? Dangerous new drug hits Austin streets

Two University of Texas-related social media accounts are warning people about a drug going around. It is tied to recent overdoses across the country.

What is cychlorphine?

“It seems like this is the new thing and, unfortunately, it’s very dangerous,” Bentley Heart CEO & Medical Director, Dr. Fahmi Farah, said.

The drug is called cychlorphine, and it shows up in cocaine, heroin, and other street drugs.

“It does act very similarly to an opioid-like fentanyl. But again, the biggest issue, with the biggest differentiating thing here, is the potency of it. It’s as much as 10 times stronger,” Dr. Farah said.

Dr. Farah said cychlorphine is known to require more than one dose of Narcan.

“Every dose could be different because it’s not regulated. We don’t know what kind of other contaminations there are, so it’s not the people who are getting it on the streets. This is the only substance. The majority of the time it’s just mixed in with other compounds,” Dr. Farah said.

She said cychlorphine is very difficult to detect with standard tests.

Doctors are concerned.

Austin-Travis County EMS reports in the last 30 days, they had 98 opioid overdose calls compared to 73 opioid overdoses in September 2025.

“Not only have we had more frequency, but what we’re seeing is we’re needing larger amounts of Narcan to reverse these overdoses and so that’s something that we haven’t really seen as much in the past,” Austin-Travis County EMS Commander Randy Chhabra said.

Austin-Travis County EMS reported in the last 30 days, nine patients required more than two doses of Narcan to reverse the overdose.

The Office of National Drug Control Police reported 55 deaths linked to cychlorphine between 2025 and 2026.

Two UT-related social media accounts are warning people about it, saying ‘Nothing is worth your life. Please take this seriously and exercise caution.’

Barstool Longhorn Admin, a UT social media account, released the following statement:

“We put this post out in collaboration with Longhorn Chicks in response to the tragic overdose deaths at Ole Miss. Barstool-affiliated accounts across the country have shared similar messages in an effort to raise awareness about the dangers of laced drugs.

 As one of the largest non-school affiliated longhorn accounts, we feel a responsibility to use our platform to help keep the Longhorn community informed, aware, and safe.”

Dr. Farah said the signs of an overdose include: “The patient becoming less responsive, they’re going to have difficulty breathing, that’s the one that we worry about the most is that this can really stop their breathing system and their circulation actually as well.”

If you do find someone experiencing symptoms, call 911 and give Narcan if you have it.