Medetomidine: New drug causing extreme withdrawal crisis spreads in US

Emmanuel Macron is visiting the southern French city of Marseille, where he will discuss security and the fight against drug trafficking. Marseille is known as a hotspot for drug-related crimes. The French president's visit comes one month after drug criminals killed Mehdi Kessaci, the brother of Amine Kessaci. Amine is on the front page of Libération. He is a leading figure in the fight against drug trafficking in Marseille. The French left-wing paper traces the journey of the 22-year-old environmental activist, who became an "anti-drug crusader" after the death of his half-brother and one of his friends in 2020. Both of them were found burned to death in a car, victims of a drug-related settling of scores. Today, Amine is demanding more crime prevention, the return of community policing and more access to public services. Libération wonders whether his demands will be "heard" by Macron. The newspaper denounces the "punitive approach" to the fight against drug trafficking and says that it has proven ineffective in the long term. 

Staying on the topic of drugs, a new deadly narcotic called medetomidine is spreading in the United States. The New York Times reports that it's a veterinary sedative mixed with fentanyl that's "creating a life-threatening withdrawal crisis in Philadelphia" and spreading to other cities too. The paper interviewed an addict who said that the withdrawal he experienced with the new drug was "terrifyingly all-consuming". The powerful sedative causes almost instant blackouts, and if not used every few hours, it causes extreme withdrawal symptoms, such as vomiting, tremours and a very high heart rate and blood pressure.

Elsewhere, polar bears are mutating to adapt to climate change, as Geo Magazine reports. According to scientists, polar bears are undergoing "fundamental genetic changes" in a desperate attempt to adapt to the climate crisis. Two-thirds of polar bears are predicted to become extinct by 2050 – perhaps even totally extinct by the end of the century. But thanks to mutations in their DNA, in the so-called "jumping genes", bears could mutate to better deal with heat stress and adapt to plant-based diets found in warmer regions. It's a beacon of hope for the Arctic mammals. 

Finally, an unusual crime story is making headlines in France. Franceinfo reports that two burglars, who were seemingly "quite relaxed", took a coffee break in a local café in the middle of their robbery. 

Plus: The New York Times has collected some of the most memorable breakup lines, including "It's not me – It's 100% about you". 

You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.