Federal law enforcement officials are warning about a potentially deadly development in Michigan's opioid epidemic.
Xylazine is a non-opioid veterinary tranquilizer linked to a growing number of overdose deaths.
The drug mimics the effects of fentanyl and heroin. Xylazine, also known as Tranq, depresses the central nervous system and can cause drowsiness, slow breathing and drop a person’s heart rate and blood pressure to dangerously low levels.
U.S. Attorney Mark Totten says the drug is increasingly being mixed with heroin and fentanyl.
“Xylazine makes the crisis even worse because it is not reversable by naloxone and because of the hideous effects that it can have on those who use it,” said Totten.
Orville Greene is the Special Agent in Charge in the Detroit office of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. He says Tranq is cheap.
“That’s also a reason why Xylazine has become so popular in terms of being an adulterant for fentanyl and heroin,” said Greene.
Nationally, overdose deaths linked to Xylazine have been climbing steadily since 2020.
