03/28/2023
Fentanyl is even deadlier when mixed with xylazine (or 'tranq'):
Most people have heard of fentanyl, the synthetic opioid that’s 50 times stronger than he**in and is largely responsible for more than 150 overdose deaths each day, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But now a new drug has emerged that makes fentanyl even more dangerous.
The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has issued a public safety alert about xylazine — also known by its street name "Tranq" — which is increasingly being mixed with fentanyl. It is now found in 48 states.
Xylazine was originally approved in 1972 for use by veterinarians as a sedative, pain reliever and/or muscle relaxer, according to the DEA. It’s commonly used on animals large and small to calm them before exams and surgery. It can also be used as a pain reliever or local anesthetic. About 3ccs [0.10 fl. oz.] will put a 1,000-pound cow on the ground, while the same amount would relax a horse enough to stand there and be shoed. Just three-tenths of a cc — a very small amount — will fully sedate a human and possibly cause death.
• Narcan can’t reverse xylazine overdoses.
• Xylazine is usually mixed with opioids.
• Xylazine has dangerous depressive effects.
• It is causing more overdose deaths.
• The drug can cause rotting flesh.
Xylazine has been dubbed the "zombie drug" due to its side effect of causing the rotting of human tissue. When xylazine is injected, it can cause serious skin wounds, infections and tissue necrosis [death]. Some people have had such severe wounds that they have required limb amputations.
All illicit drug use is now deadly.
With the growing prevalence of dangerous additives like fentanyl and xylazine, doctors warn that any illicit drug could potentially be life-threatening.
