A terrifying new street drug is here, and experts warn Narcan can’t stop it

Sep 5, 2025, 5:02 AM

A homeless man, 24, holds a piece of aluminum foil he used to smoke fentanyl on March 13, 2022 in Seattle, Washington. Widespread drug addiction is endemic in Seattle's large homeless community, which the city is currently trying to move out from shared public spaces. According to a recent report commissioned by Seattle Councilmember Andrew Lewis, the COVID-19 pandemic put undue pressure on the city's shelter system and delayed funds for new housing, leading to an increase in homelessness. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

(Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

BY JACKSON MEYER

Seattle Red

It’s no secret that the United States has been in the throes of an opioid epidemic. Last year, over 50,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses according to the CDC. Most of these deaths were from fentanyl, but there’s a new class of drugs hitting the streets. They’re called nitazenes and they’re very cheap to produce and are also Narcan resistant.

Now, a Republican lawmaker is trying to proactively fight back.

“We’re trying to get ahead of this issue before it adds to the epidemic because these drugs are so deadly,” Congressman Michael Baumgartner (R-WA) told The Jason Rantz Show on Seattle Red AM 770.

A bipartisan push

Baumgartner teamed up with Democrat Eugene Vindman of Virginia in a bipartisan effort to step up enforcement of these dangerous narcotics. And even though Baumgartner welcomes the support from his Democrat colleague, he says too many in Vindman’s party have gone soft on drugs.

“If you look at essentially non enforcement of drug laws in places like Washington state and in Oregon under Democratic leadership of the state government it’s just exploded, and it’s ruining communities,” said Baumgartner.

Baumgartner also stressed the importance of stopping these drugs at the source.

“We also just passed yesterday off the House floor an act to specifically target the Chinese Communist Party for their lax enforcement of drug laws…they enforce them in China. They just don’t enforce them when they’re coming to export here in the US,” he said.

A cultural awakening on drugs

While enforcement is crucial, Baumgartner also concluded that our country needs a cultural awakening that stigmatizes drug use in the first place.

“I don’t want to sound like the crotchety old guy from Footloose here, but when you have people like Snoop Dogg who’s sort of celebrated for his drug culture… and is in everybody’s kitchen and living room, it contributes to drug culture,” he explained.

Listen to the full conversation with Baumgartner below.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3 p.m. – 7 p.m. on Seattle Red on 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow Jason Rantz on X, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.