Xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer found in opioids and other drugs, has become a hazard across the US even after being a mainstay in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for years. Known as “tranq dope” on the streets, there are thousands of addicted persons in the state that are coping with the effects of long-term use and addiction.

Xylazine is a drug with just one medical use; veterinarians use it to tranquilize large animals such as horses, but it was never meant for human use. And just like fentanyl and opioids, xylazine can slow respiration and cause an overdose in people who use it, which often leads to death.

Xylazine Complicates Opioid Overdoses

People who overdose on opioids mixed with Xylazine cannot be revived naloxone. In Pennsylvania, they now know that if naloxone can’t reverse an overdose, it’s time to start CPR. But much of the nation being exposed to tranq dope has no idea what they’re dealing with. The Biden administration warned about its dangers a month ago, but that’s only a small amount of education on a drug that can become just as ubiquitous as fentanyl.

Determining Xylazine Exposure

Determining whether a person has been exposed to xylazine is difficult at most ERs. Few have the technology right now to test for it. State crime labs can test for it post-mortem, but that’s too little, too late.

While a new testing kit has been developed to help drug users discover if a drug contains xylazine, it’s not available everywhere, and many users just don’t know to look for signs that xylazine is a problem.

In fact, in Pennsylvania, one of the most heartbreaking outcomes of xylazine’s infiltration of the drug scene was that many people were addicted and didn’t know the drug they were addicted to more than just an opioid.

Xylazine Shows the Gaps in Healthcare Action for Addiction

Many districts in America have no way to test for a new drug until it’s been on the streets and begun killing people or people end up in ERs. The US DEA tracks patterns of overdoses over time to understand trends. State crime labs also have the ability to test for hundreds of substances and find relations to them. For example, crime labs may be able to determine if a new drug is in the opioid family, but if the drug is new, they may not know the name of it.

People with substance use disorders won’t know if they’re being fed xylazine when they try a new drug. Some users find out when they go into intense withdrawal that’s not alleviated with Medication-Assisted Treatment. Others may realize they’re taking it when they get the telltale “zombie drug” wounds that xylazine use causes in humans. Users anecdotally say that xylazine detox takes several weeks longer than a detox for fentanyl.

Xylazine Action and Education Is Needed

Many people in America who use opioids still don’t know about xylazine, but that has started to change as part of a public health campaign. It and other new drugs are a deadly threat in America. Since the beginning of the year, the drug has been found in places as remote as North Dakota.

The drug has been found in 37 states in America and even in Canada. Congress is demanding that it become classified as a Schedule III narcotic so that enforcement actions can be stepped up. This won’t, however, begin to tackle the dilemma of thousands of people already addicted and in pain or halt overdoses from unsuspecting drug users. It is, however, a start to acknowledging the problem and beginning to force action.

“Xylazine is a growing danger to communities across our nation. With a record number of overdose deaths, we must confront this new threat,” wrote the attorneys general from the 37 states in a letter. “We agree that Congress must act quickly to classify the illicit use of xylazine under Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The Combating Illicit Xylazine Act provides critical tools that will enable the DEA to track its manufacturing, prevent diversion, and mandate analysis and reporting on the illicit use of xylazine.”