Fentanyl – the deadliest drug in the country – is becoming even more dangerous. In the United States, the opioid is increasingly being mixed with Xylazine, a powerful tranquilizer approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in animals like horses. But on the streets, it is known as “tranq” or “tranq dope,” the “zombie drug,” and has been associated with horrific side effects and a growing number of fatal overdoses across the country.
The substance was first found mixed with heroin in Puerto Rico two decades ago. Today, the national crisis center is Philadelphia, where Xylazine appeared in the drug supply as early as 2006 and was found in over 90% of drug samples tested in the city’s laboratory in 2021.
Xylazine is believed to have started being added to other drugs to increase traffickers’ profits.
In March, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a warning about a “sharp increase in the trafficking of fentanyl mixed with Xylazine,” stating that it had seized mixtures of Xylazine and fentanyl in 48 of the 50 U.S. states.
The FDA has promised to crack down on imports of the drug, and a new bill moving through Congress aims to add Xylazine to the DEA’s list of controlled substances.
But experts say there is still a significant lack of understanding about the problem and how to combat it.
James Latronica, a physician and president of public policy for the Pennsylvania Society of Addiction Medicine, explains that Xylazine is not something people seek out intentionally. “You have an unregulated and unknown supply, which is likely just cheaper than fentanyl,” he said in an interview with The Guardian.
Xylazine adds several layers of complexity to an already complicated and serious drug crisis in the U.S. Xylazine decreases a person’s breathing and heart rate and lowers blood pressure. An overdose can put someone in a coma, leaving them frozen and vulnerable for hours on the street.
Typically, first responders use a medication called Naloxone (often sold as Narcan) to reverse fentanyl overdoses, but if someone takes too much fentanyl mixed with Xylazine, even Narcan cannot reverse the situation. If first responders inject too much Narcan, it can induce the person to vomit excessively and possibly choke.
Xylazine has a particularly devastating side effect: horrible wounds that do not heal. The exact reason for this is still not understood, but scientists suspect that Xylazine may affect blood circulation in a way that prevents skin healing. This means that for someone using Xylazine, something as small as a pimple or a needle prick can turn into large wounds, which in some cases can erode bones. Hence the name by which the drug became known. The person is left with open sores and exposed bones that do not heal, looking like a zombie.
Last week, the White House designated Xylazine as an “emerging drug threat,” a formal measure that requires the government to create strategies to enhance law enforcement efforts, health interventions, and data collection to combat the drug.
This is the first time the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy has classified a substance with this designation, marking the severity and danger that Xylazine represents.
Source: The Guardian and AP