Fentanyl mixed with the veterinary sedative xylazine has been linked to a sharp increase of overdose deaths across the country.
By Daniel Arkin
President Joe Biden’s drug czar on Wednesday declared that fentanyl mixed with xylazine, an animal tranquilizer known as “tranq” that has been linked to a rising number of overdose deaths across the U.S., represents an “emerging threat” facing the nation.
The declaration from Dr. Rahul Gupta, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, requires the Biden administration to develop a federal plan to address the crisis. The government must now publish a response plan within 90 days and send implementation guidance to agencies within 120 days, among other steps.
“As the president’s drug policy adviser, I am deeply concerned about what this threat means for the nation,” Gupta told reporters during a briefing call on Tuesday, later adding: “We must act and act now.”
Gupta’s announcement marks the first time a presidential administration has formally labeled an illicit drug an “emerging threat” and then required the federal government to take further action — a legal authority it gained under the SUPPORT Act, a sweeping bill signed into law by former President Donald Trump in 2018.
Research has shown that opioids like fentanyl are increasingly combined with xylazine and sold on the illicit drug market, according to the National Institutes of Health. The spread of xylazine-laced fentanyl has exacerbated the nationwide addiction crisis, ravaging communities and deepening the toll of addiction.
Xylazine is not approved for human use, and ingesting it can cause serious, life-threatening effects, according to the Food and Drug Administration. People who inject it can develop flesh wounds, including blackened, rotting tissue (known as necrosis); if untreated, those injuries may result in amputation, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The powerful tranquilizer was approved by the FDA for veterinary use in 1972. It is typically used on horses, cows, sheep and other nonhuman mammals as a sedative and pain reliever, according to the FDA.
Gupta said the federal government would be mindful that xylazine has “legitimate” uses in the veterinary profession and the agriculture industry while it works on a whole-of-government response that includes evidence-based prevention, treatment and supply reduction.