Officials warn of an alert found on streets in Central Florida that is complicating the nation's response to the opioid crisis - a powerful sedative Xylazine is being mixed with fentanyl, the potent opioid that is lethal even in small amounts.
Xylazine is a veterinary tranquilizer used for animal surgeries and is not approved for human use. Users are drawn to the combination of xylazine mixed with fentanyl, called "tranq" on the streets, because it provides a longer-lasting high. Prevalence has grown from about 1% in 2018. Now, roughly 80% of the fentanyl law enforcement seized or bought undercover has been found to contain some form of xylazine.
This deadly drug mix of fentanyl laced with xylazine is even more difficult to treat and more deadly because it is a sedative, not an opioid, so Narcan/naloxone does not reverse the effects. In humans, xylazine may cause difficulty breathing, dangerously low blood pressure, slowed heart rate, severe wounds, severe tissue damage, and death.
Read about Xylazine and its harmful effects as reported by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA):
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