Louisiana is on high alert as experts warn of the spread of a powerful synthetic opioid known as cychlorphine , joining at least 12 states that have issued warnings after finding evidence of the drug, which is linked to at least 41 U.S. deaths . The drug, sometimes manufactured to resemble commercial painkillers like oxycodone, has been identified in Caddo, DeSoto, and Ouachita parishes, according to recent testing from the North Louisiana Crime Lab. There are currently no human studies of cychlorphine, but experts warn that lab testing shows the drug could be up to 10 times more powerful than fentanyl , a synthetic opioid that itself is roughly 50 times more potent than heroin. This has experts worried that if cychlorphine penetrates the U.S. drug supply, it will wreak even more havoc than fentanyl, which killed about 48,000 people in 2024 , according to the most recent government statistics.…