The Biden administration labeled fentanyl mixed with a powerful animal sedative called xylazine an “emerging threat” on Wednesday — a designation aimed at prioritizing federal resources to boost testing and treatment, and stanching the illegal supply of the tranquilizer.
The declaration is the latest effort by federal officials to crack down on xylazine, also known as “tranq,” an animal sedative that is not approved for human consumption and can cause flesh wounds that sometimes lead to amputations. Officials are also investigating how xylazine plays into opioid overdose deaths, noting there has been a surge in deaths linked to the tranquilizer.
“Xylazine is a dangerous drug in humans and its use, wittingly or unwitting, can result in serious and life-threatening effects, including death,” Rahul Gupta, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said in a briefing on Tuesday.
As part of its budget request to Congress, the Biden administration has asked for $11 million to combat emerging drug threats as part of the ongoing drug crisis, Gupta said.
Law-enforcement and public health officials say drug dealers mix xylazine into fentanyl to stretch their supplies and to extend users’ high. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that in 2021 killed about 70,000 people in the United States, is fast acting and wears off quickly. Users often don’t realize xylazine is in their drugs, and end up in a stupor, even after the fentanyl has worn off.
Users began ingesting xylazine in Puerto Rico in the early 2000s. In recent years, it has proliferated in fentanyl supplies in the northeastern United States, chiefly in the Philadelphia region, where tests show it’s pervasive. Xylazine appeared in 91 percent of tested drug samples in Philadelphia during the third quarter of last year, according to the Center for Forensic Science and Research, which partners with the city in testing.
Last month, the Drug Enforcement Administration issued a “widespread threat” alert on fentanyl mixed with xylazine, saying it had seized the mixture in 48 of 50 states. In 2022, the sedative was also present in 23 percent of fentanyl powder, and 7 percent of pills seized by the DEA.
Public health experts and government officials warn that naloxone, the drug commonly used to reverse opioid overdoses, does not work on xylazine, which is not an opioid. But they caution that people should still use naloxone on someone who might be overdosing.
The new designation comes two months after the Food and Drug Administration announced it was clamping down on the importation of the tranquilizer, giving federal agencies the authority to stop shipments of the finished drug and its ingredients. Gupta said officials are still investigating how much of the xylazine supply is diverted from veterinarian stocks in the United States or comes from overseas.
“We need to know more about the supply routes and methods so law enforcement can disrupt these supplies,” Gupta said.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers recently introduced legislation to make xylazine a controlled substance and outlaw human consumption of the drug. Under the measure, the DEA would have authority to arrest dealers who use xylazine to stretch their fentanyl supplies. The bill would keep xylazine legal for use by vets to sedate large animals.