USA Today (4/12, Alltucker) reports, “The Biden administration’s drug czar on Wednesday announced that illicit fentanyl spiked with the animal tranquilizer xylazine is an ‘emerging threat,’ a designation that will allow the federal government to marshal resources to counteract the street drug combination found in most states.” This marks “the first time the United States has declared a drug such a threat, a category enabled by a 2018 federal bill, said” Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Rahul Gupta, MD, MPH, FACP, MBA. Gupta “said his office is seeking $11 million to help create a strategy to stop its spread, develop an antidote and research how it has gotten into the drug supply, according to the Associated Press.”
The Hill (4/12, Weixel) reports the drug “Xylazine, also known as ‘tranq,’ is an easily accessible veterinary drug approved for use in animals as a sedative and pain reliever.” However, “it is also being used by drug dealers as a low-cost cutting agent in drugs like fentanyl as a way to extend a user’s high.”
Related Links:
— “Animal ‘tranq’ xylazine is becoming a deadly threat. Here’s how the US is trying to stop it. “Ken Alltucker, USA TODAY, April 12, 2023