On Monday, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a public safety alert warning that a deadly mix of fentanyl and xylazine was being “trafficked in 48 states,” according to the Washington Examiner.”
Xylazine is a powerful sedative (approved by the FDA for use by veterinarians), and fentanyl is a synthetic opioid drug — approved by the FDA for limited use as an analgesic. Because of its potency and relatively low cost, fentanyl has become one of the more potent drugs of choice on the street.
Unfortunately, fentanyl is highly addictive, and overdoses are common because it can be processed in different purity levels. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported approximately 100,000 fentanyl-related deaths in the United States last year.
The new fentanyl-xylazine mix is especially dangerous because Narcan, the primary antidote to opioid overdoses, is ineffective in countering the hybrid drug.
Anne Milgram, a lead administrator with the DEA, issued a statement regarding the hybrid drug:
“Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier. … The DEA Laboratory System is reporting that in 2022 approximately 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized by the DEA contained xylazine.”
According to the CDC, 66% of all deaths in the United States from August 2021 to August 2022 involved opioids like fentanyl.
Officials link the expanded work of the Sinaloa and Jalisco drug cartels and the opening of the southern border to the increase in drug-related crime and deaths in the United States.
The DEA’s Monday alert warned that “fake prescription pills [could be] laced with fentanyl.” In November, the DEA warned that approximately sixty percent of “fake prescription medications contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl.”
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