Sen. Widen hears local officials on detection devices, urges federal help to beat new synthetic opioid threats

Senator Widen convened a briefing with local law enforcement, public-health officials and treatment providers to discuss early-warning detection for an emerging class of synthetic opioids — variously referred to during the meeting as “nitazines,” “nidazines,” or similar spellings — and urged federal support for field-deployable testing equipment.

Widen opened the session by calling the new class of compounds a major threat and saying the response must balance “firm punishment for drug dealers and compassionate treatment for those who are suffering from addiction.” He asked participants for practical steps federal and local partners can take to avoid repeating mistakes made during the spread of fentanyl.

Chris Gibson, executive director of the Oregon-Idaho High Intensive Drug Tra (self-identified), and an unnamed sheriff’s office speaker described using the MX908 handheld mass spectrometer in field operations and said the device gives rapid, actionable identification of known and novel substances. Gibson and other participants said similar devices cost roughly $95,000 including service, and the group described a congressional-directed spending request of $380,000 to buy four additional mass spectrometers to expand coverage across the state.

Public-health analysts emphasized the operational benefit of near-real-time detection. Isabelle Cisco, identified as an Oregon public-health analyst with the Overdose Response Strategy, said state crime-lab turnaround can lag months and that having local machines shortens the timeframe for identifying new adulterants and responding to changing drug-supply risks. Cisco reported that in the state’s unintentional overdose reporting system there were "fewer than five" fatal overdoses recorded for the novel opioid class in both 2023 and 2024 (numbers are suppressed in public health tables for small counts) and none so far in 2025 through June.

Speakers described multiple benefits of local mass spectrometers: faster public-health alerts, improved interagency data-sharing, expedited investigations and enhanced first-responder safety. They also urged distributing inexpensive test strips to treatment providers and community partners to reduce harm and to connect people to services.

During questions, Nathan Basquez, the district attorney (self-identified), cited a recent fentanyl death of a 14-year-old and asked how detection and prevention tools could better protect youth. Participants responded by stressing prevention programs, trauma-informed family services such as Washington County’s newly opened Family Peace Center, and the need to scale treatment access for juveniles — while noting legal limits such as parental consent requirements for minor treatment.

Widen closed by thanking attendees and saying he will carry the accounts to his colleagues in Congress and the Senate and press for federal partnerships and modest funding to expand local detection capacity.

This briefing combined technical, legal and public-health perspectives: officials argued that investing in field detection devices and test strips could produce faster warnings about novel substances and that funding to place spectrometers in additional regions would strengthen statewide surveillance and response.