Topline
White House officials Wednesday designated a veterinary drug, Xylazine, as an “emerging threat” that could worsen the nation’s ongoing opioid crisis, enabling the government to better tackle its illicit use.
Dr. Rahul Gupta, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, walks at … [+]
Key Facts
The Office of National Drug Control Policy said a combination of Xylazine and the opioid fentanyl is being sold illicitly and causing overdose deaths in every region of the country.
Xylazine is a non-opioid tranquilizer that is approved for veterinary use only and is not meant for human consumption.
According to a Drug Enforcement Agency report cited by the office, Xylazine was detected in 808 overdose deaths in 2020—with most of them being concentrated in the Northeast region—but that number surged to 3089 in 2021.
While Xylazine-linked overdose deaths doubled in the northeast between 2020 and 2021 they shot up by 1,127% in the South, 750% in the West and 516% in the midwest regions.
According to the Associated Press, the drug control policy office is seeking $11 million in funding to help tackle the emerging threat and exploring the possibility of having Congress classify it as a controlled substance.
Key Background
This is the first time the federal government has used the “emerging threat” designation for a drug since the process was approved by Congress in 2018. This designation targets new illicit substances or combinations and is meant to increase awareness about them and help develop treatments. Xylazine’s use in veterinary treatments was approved more than 50 years ago, but its use in illicit substances is more recent. The DEA’s report mentions it is increasingly being used as an adulterant in several drug mixtures. The tranquilizer is not an opioid and therefore Naloxone, the drug used to treat opioid overdoses, is ineffective against it. Similar to opioids, Xylazine can slow down a person’s heart rate and breathing, making it difficult to identify in a clinical setting. The drug also has no known antidote.
Crucial Quote
Dr. Rahul Gupta, the director of the White House’s drug control policy office, said: “As a physician, I am deeply troubled about the devastating impact of the fentanyl-xylazine combination, and as President Biden’s drug policy advisor, I am immensely concerned about what this threat means for the Nation…By declaring xylazine combined with fentanyl as an emerging threat, we are being proactive in our approach to save lives and creating new tools for public health and public safety officials and communities across the Nation.”
Further Reading
White House says veterinary drug, fentanyl mixture an ‘emerging threat’ in US (Associated Press)
The ‘Deadliest Drug’ In America Explained: How Xylazine—An Animal Tranquilizer—Is Getting Mixed With Fentanyl (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2023/04/12/animal-tranquilizer-xylazine-is-now-an-emerging-threat-in-opioid-crisis-biden-administration-warns/