A Flood of New, Deadlier Drugs episode artwork

EPISODE · May 26, 2026 · 28 MIN

A Flood of New, Deadlier Drugs

from The Daily · host Deborah Lebree

As America is beginning to wrap its arms around the fentanyl crisis, a new kind of drug epidemic is emerging. It is faster, more addictive, more lethal and powered by synthetic drugs — substances that can be made almost anywhere. Azam Ahmed, an international investigative correspondent, explains how these drugs are beginning to take hold and brings us inside the effort to do something about it.  Guest: Azam Ahmed, an international investigative correspondent for The New York Times. Background reading:  No pills or needles, just paper: This is how deadly drugs are changing. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As America is beginning to wrap its arms around the fentanyl crisis, a new kind of drug epidemic is emerging. It is faster, more addictive, more lethal and powered by synthetic drugs — substances that can be made almost anywhere. Azam Ahmed, an international investigative correspondent, explains how these drugs are beginning to take hold and brings us inside the effort to do something about it.  Guest: Azam Ahmed, an international investigative correspondent for The New York Times. Background reading:  No pills or needles, just paper: This is how deadly drugs are changing. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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A Flood of New, Deadlier Drugs

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This episode was published on May 26, 2026.

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As America is beginning to wrap its arms around the fentanyl crisis, a new kind of drug epidemic is emerging. It is faster, more addictive, more lethal and powered by synthetic drugs — substances that can be made almost anywhere. Azam Ahmed, an...

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