A crime lab in Los Angeles County has confirmed the dangerous, flesh-eating drug xylazine has infiltrated the county's illicit drug supply.
Known by the street names, "tranq" or the "zombie drug," the veterinary sedative – which is not FDA approved for humans – is mixed with fentanyl in a deadly combination that can cause necrotic sores. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department detected limited quantities of xylazine in illicit drugs seized by local law enforcement, a county press release said.
"The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health stresses that these findings highlight that the illicit drug supply in Los Angeles County remains dangerous and contains substances such as xylazine that can increase overdose deaths," health officials warned. "People who are obtaining these drugs may not be aware that xylazine is present.
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The finding comes five months after the Los Angeles Department of Public Health issued a health alert warning that xylazine was being mixed with heroin or fentanyl, or pressed into counterfeit pills or sedatives to cheaply make these drugs more potent.
A three-month pilot program initiated in April to track xylazine detected the drug in controlled substances sent to the sheriff department's crime lab. Of 4,608 samples tested, 320 were found to contain fentanyl, and of those 320 samples 13 had an indication of xylazine, resulting in 4% of all substances with fentanyl also having xylazine, the county said.
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Xylazine has been detected in nearly every state in the country and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have continued to show an increase in xylazine-related overdose deaths. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has warned that because xylazine is not an opioid, naloxone (Narcan) does not reverse its effects.
Taking xylazine can cause drowsiness and amnesia, and slow breathing, heart rate and blood pressure to dangerously low levels.
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Repeated xylazine use is also associated with skin ulcers, abscesses and related complications. Those who inject drug mixtures containing xylazine also can develop necrosis – the rotting of human tissue – that may lead to amputation.
Officials with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department told the Los Angeles Times that even though xylazine is harmful, it is not illegal and there are few law enforcement options for tackling the drug.
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"There are a bunch of different additives – like vitamin C, which comes up a lot – that we don’t write down," Capt. Ernest Bille, who oversees the department’s Scientific Services Bureau, told the paper. "The mission, given the volume of the caseload that we have, is to figure out: Is this a controlled substance or not?"
There is currently bipartisan legislation in California that would classify xylazine as a Schedule III controlled substance, placing it in the same category as ketamine, anabolic steroids and some codeine products, the L.A. Times reported.
