Public Service Alert - Emerging Drug Threat: Fentanyl Laced with Xylazine

 

                             

    

The addiction epidemic fueled by fentanyl has cost the lives of more than 100,000 Americans in each of the past two years. For the first time in history, the White House Office of National Drug Control has declared a drug called Tranq, a mixture of animal tranquilizer xylazine and the powerful opioid fentanyl, to be an emerging threat in our country. 

This threat distinction is key because it allows the federal government to take action to fight the drug in our communities. It comes after careful review of the impact of xylazine on the opioid crisis and its growing role in overdose deaths. Drug dealers are mixing opioids like fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine with xylazine. DEA agents have identified xylazine in 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized in 2022.

Users say the mixture of tranq with fentanyl is taken to extend the high. Although xylazine has been approved by the FDA for use in veterinary medicine, it is not approved for use in humans.

The combination of these drugs can produce serious, even life-threatening side effects. As a depressant, it slows heart rate and breathing. It is also known to cause severe skin wounds in humans and can even lead to amputation and other health issues. 

The danger does not stop there. Little is known about treating xylazine exposure. DEA officials warn that tranq cannot be counteracted by naloxone, or Narcan, as an antidote to reverse effects during overdoses because xylazine is not an opioid.

Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), Dr. Rahul Gupta, said his office is requesting $11 million dollars to help develop strategies to tackle the drug spread. Gupta warned, “Currently no approved antidote or treatment exists to reverse the effects of xylazine. It is important to focus both the research and development of protocols by experts on this and understand the supply chain and where it is coming from.”

Now more than ever, it is important to heed alerts about emerging drug threats and stay informed about the very real dangers of experimentation with illicit drugs.

For more information about this national public safety alert, call InnerAct Alliance at 802-0777 or visit https://www.dea.gov