xylazine, a potent animal tranquilizer, has made its way into the illicit drug supply and the consequences could be fatal.
in an open letter
to healthcare providers, the u.s. food and drug administration (fda) warned this week that some street supplies of fentanyl and heroin — and, in some cases, methamphetamine and cocaine — may include the tranquilizer xylazine. xylazine is primarily used as a painkiller in horses, used to sedate them before surgery,
nbc news reports.
it has no approved human use, and its sedative effects can last for hours.
critically, overdoses involving xylazine can’t be reversed by using
naloxone (also called narcan), used to treat opioid overdose. it also won’t be detected by testing strips that can be used to test other drugs for the presence of fentanyl.
the tranquilizer causes bodily reactions similar to opioids, paramedic and harm reduction instructor claire zagorski
told cbs news
. it lowers blood pressure and slows down a user’s breathing and heart rate.
but it isn’t an opioid, and its sedative qualities added to fentanyl or heroin can make the effects of both drugs more intense.
“if you have an opioid and a sedative, those two things are going to have stronger effects together,” chelsea shover, an epidemiologist at ucla’s school of medicine,
explained to npr
in august.