Xylazine – an emerging drug threat
LAKE HAVASU CITY – The Lake Havasu City Police Department would like to inform the community that a new illegal drug trend has appeared in the community. The counterfeit drug commonly identified as fentanyl pills, or M30s is now being manufactured with a non-opioid veterinary tranquilizer called Xylazine.
The Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), Dr. Rahul Gupta, has officially designated fentanyl adulterated or associated with Xylazine as an emerging threat to the United States. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), there has been a sharp increase in the trafficking of fentanyl mixed with Xylazine.
Xylazine, also known as “Tranq,” is a powerful sedative/tranquilizer which is not approved for human use, but is approved for veterinary use, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), this non-opioid veterinary tranquilizer has been linked to an increasing number of overdose deaths nationwide.
While Narcan can be used in an attempt to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, it may not be able to reverse the effects of Xylazine as it is a non-opioid medication.
