Health warning: New drug making its way from the Northeast into the South.
It’s a drug used primarily for horses and cattle.
Now it’s finding its way into street drugs being combined with cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl.
This new drug has a deadly component, it’s NARCAN resistant.
The drug is Xylazine, commonly known as Tranq.
Veterinarians use it as a sedative and pain reliever in large animals.
“So, there are some dangerous properties to xylazine. It's typically a cutting agent which is put into other substances, which is sort of designed to extend the life of the product, and maybe increase profits,” Cory Rodivich, Chief of Investigations at the Jefferson Parish Coroner’s office told WWL-TV.
Jefferson Parish reports 44 people who died in the last three years while using street drugs had Tranq in their system.
“And that's why we're seeing it in fentanyl. It's increasing the euphoric effect,” said Dr. Dana Troxclair, Chief Forensic Pathologist at the Jefferson Parish Coroner’s office tells the TV station. She says when mixed with cocaine, it’s especially dangerous. “You decrease your respiration. It decreases your heart rate, and eventually, they go unconscious. People taking the drug tend to black out and then go unconscious and eventually die.”
Tranq has caught the attention of City Council Vice President Helena Moreno. “I've had conversations with the health department here in the city of New Orleans, and it's already raising the alert flag. We need to be on the lookout for this, notifying UMC about the potential for needing to test for xylazine in overdose cases,” she said.
