The animal tranquilizer xylazine, which is not intended for human consumption, has been linked to thousands of drug overdoses across the United States, according to reports.
Deaths from the drug, which also goes by the street name “tranq,” increased 86.8% between 2019 and 2020 before dropping off slightly in 2021, the Detroit Free Press reported Friday. Xylazine has also had an increasing presence in states such as Delaware, Maryland, and Connecticut, according to federal officials cited by the New York Post.
“It slows you down so much that even when you try to stand up slowly, you feel like you’re going to pass out — no matter what,” xylazine user Christina told Delaware Public. “Your head feels like a bowling ball and your ears ring. You’re going to pass out.”
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Philadelphia is hiring a wound-care specialist and a field nurse for the sole purpose of treating xylazine-related lesions in response to an increasing supply of the drug, according to the outlet. Xylazine is found in 91% of the city’s heroin and fentanyl supplies, according to a report from the peer-reviewed journal Science Direct.
Xylazine is often added to other drugs, such as heroin and fentanyl, with some people claiming they use xylazine-fentanyl to lengthen its euphoric effects. Taking drugs in combination with xylazine and other central nervous system depressants, such as alcohol or benzodiazepines, have been known to increase the risk of life-threatening overdose, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
The drug, which is usually used on horses as a muscle relaxant and anesthetic, is a central nervous system depressant that when injected into humans can cause drowsiness, amnesia, slow breathing, a slow heart rate, and can blood pressure to incredibly low levels. Repeated use of xylazine has been associated with skin ulcers, abscesses, and other complications, according to the institute.
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If a person does inject xylazine, he or she is recommended to take naloxone as a combatant to the opioid overdose. However, the naloxone will not resolve the breathing issues created by xylazine.
