“People withdrawing from tranq are not going the same course as folks who were using heroin. It’s very different, and the approach in treatment is going to need to change,” says Lydia Williams, a wound care nurse at Project HOME, an organization that baking soda to pass drug test provides accessible health care in Philadelphia. Medical guidance for how to treat xylazine withdrawal is limited and needs more research, she says. Xylazine was found in over 90% of drug samples tested in Philadelphia in 2021, the program says.
When did this drug appear in Hamilton County?
This means if you’re admitted to the hospital, they’ll give you fluids through your veins (IV fluids) and saline eye irrigation. As the U.S. opioid crisis continues, there’s a new lethal drug on the streets you’ll need to watch out for. Medical associations have not created guidelines for how to treat xylazine-specific wounds. Early evidence suggests keeping the wounds clean but open (without stitches or skin grafts). NIDA supports research to better understand how to treat xylazine-related wounds.
More on Substance Abuse and Addiction
The New York Times recently noted that the drug-checking machines capable of identifying a substance like tranq can run to tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, money that most cash-strapped health departments don’t have. Routine toxicology screens do not detect the drug, and a CDC spokeswoman says there is no commercially available version of a less expensive test strip for it. The numbers, both in the northeast and around the U.S., are likely significant underestimates. A large number of deaths also have been attributed to fentanyl poisoning, which happens when fentanyl is laced in other street drugs without the user’s knowledge.
What are the side effects of xylazine?
He was taken to a hospital, where xylazine was detected in his blood and urine. A police investigation found that the boy’s godfather had injected him with xylazine after he had returned from the playground. The godfather later admitted that he had intended to sexually assault the boy after poisoning him with xylazine.
- Xylazine, the “zombie drug,” has fully asserted its presence in Kensington, just as it has elsewhere across Philadelphia, the Northeast corridor, and, increasingly, other sectors of the U.S.
- In fact, Florida medical examiners, who meet every other month, have noted a drop in the presence of xylazine in drug overdose deaths in 2024.
- Ana Goñi-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at
- As tranq’s inclusion in street drugs spreads, states may spring into action on their own, especially in the absence of federal direction.
Drugs Contaminated With Fentanyl and Xylazine Are Especially Deadly
INDIANAPOLIS — A tranquilizer known as the “zombie drug” is increasingly being used in the Hoosier State in tandem with fentanyl, the deadly opioid driving the American overdose crisis. Nearly 108,000 Americans died from drug poisonings from August 2021 to August 2022, and 66% involved synthetic opioids like fentanyl, according to the latest data from the CDC. Deaths have steadily increased through two decades through rising addiction to prescription pain pills and heroin, then sharply increased in the past few years because of synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
Less opioids, more stimulants in Florida
While some users actively seek substances with xylazine, others are surprised by the adulterated supply. Bystanders who suspect an overdose should always call 911 to bring in experts in case treatment is required. Due to its impact on the opioid crisis, fentanyl mixed (adulterated) with xylazine was declared an emerging threat by the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy. On July 11, 2023, the White House released a National Response Plan to address the emerging threat of fentanyl mixed with xylazine.
Your doctor will need to use other methods of detailed screenings or bloodwork to detect the traces of xylazine in your system. People with naloxone kits seen on International Overdose Awareness Day. Although xylazine is not an opioid, naloxone can reverse the effects of the fentanyl and heroin that xylazine is often mixed with. The drug was also called “anestesia de caballo,” or horse anesthetic in Spanish, in Puerto Rico where it was first noted as an adulterant in the illicit drug supply in the early 2000s, according to the DEA report. While most jurisdictions don’t routinely test for xylazine in postmortem toxicology, the Drug Enforcement Administration estimates xylazine was involved in at least 1,281 overdose deaths in the Northeast and 1,423 in the South in 2021.
In some cases, affected people can appear to be in a trance-like state that people describe as being zombie-like. But laws around it are evolving and some states are tightening their laws around it. For example, New York passed a bill in 2017 designating xylazine as a controlled substance that is illegal to use or sell. “Xylazine is not responsive to naloxone like heroin and fentanyl are,” Chhabra said. Medical providers “may have to provide certain support measures in addition to naloxone,” like breathing assistance. Xylazine was created in the 1960s and is used in veterinary medicine to sedate animals during procedures or diagnostic testing, according to the DEA.
It is typically given to animals intravenously, intramuscularly or orally. Xylazine has a rapid onset of action and its effects can last up to 4 hours in animals. Xylazine currently isn’t listed as a controlled is mdma addictive substance, meaning the Drug Enforcement Agency doesn’t have a clear way to regulate it. Members of Congress in both chambers have introduced legislation to classify xylazine as a Schedule III substance.
That rate was more than 10% in Connecticut, 19% in Maryland and nearly 26% in Pennsylvania, where Sherman remade his life after years of homelessness and drug use. Though he stayed away from the drug during his days as a user, Sherman knows what to look for. Some of his coworkers at Savage Sisters, before they got sober and took counseling jobs at the center, developed similar wounds from their repeated use of drugs containing xylazine, an animal tranquilizer that goes by the street name tranq. Xylazine is most prominent in Philadelphia, Dr. Rahul Gupta, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, told CNN.
Epinephrine and norepinephrine normally mediate the “fight-or-flight response,” and thus when their levels are decreased by the actions of xylazine, analgesia (pain relief), muscle relaxation, and sedation occur. Veterinarians typically use xylazine to sedate animals for surgery and other clinical purposes. It is commonly used in cats, dogs, cattle, and horses but may also be used in wildlife such as deer and elk. This guide answers some common questions about xylazine, xylazine use, and overdoses involving xylazine.
The rise of xylazine, a common additive to illicit substances like fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine, and a likely contributor to spiking overdose death rates in the U.S., has researchers and government agencies on alert. They’re short on information, screening, surveillance, drug monitoring and virtually absent of policy—and based upon the numbers, that will almost certainly have to change. That’s how many Americans died from drug overdoses in 2022, with fentanyl-laced drugs making up about 66.5% of those deaths, the CDC states. In November, the Food and Drug Administration distributed guidance to health care professionals warning of the risk of patients being exposed to xylazine in illicit drugs. Experts still recommend administering Narcan if someone might be experiencing an overdose, especially since xylazine is so often combined with opioids. But people should know that it won’t address the impact of xylazine on breathing, and call emergency medical services either way.
Xylazine-laced fentanyl has been found in 48 states, creating what experts call the “deadliest drug” in the U.S., which results in side effects like necrosis, amnesia, blurred vision and death. When it comes to treatment for the ulcers seen with chronic xylazine use, careful wound care is essential, including cleaning with soap, water addiction specialist degrees certifications and qualifications or saline (not alcohol or hydrogen peroxide) and keeping it moist and covered. Another concern is that restricting xylazine could lead to the spread of newer, more potent drugs. Thakrar says that synthetic drugs like xylazine and fentanyl are cheap and easy to manufacture, so they’re likely to keep popping up, faster and faster.