CINCINNATI — For the first time in U.S. history, the White House has designated a substance as an emerging threat.
The warning comes due to a the cocktail of illegal drugs fentanyl and xylazine.
While fentanyl laced with xylazine may be an emerging threat across the country, Tom Synan with the Hamilton County Addiction Response Coalition said it’s something they’ve been trying to tackle locally for years.
"I think it is sending a message. I'm happy to see that they are announcing this as an emerging trend because it does tell me they're going to take some sort of action," Synan said.
Xylazine is an animal sedative that causes a person's breathing and heart rates to slow down, sometimes to deadly levels. It also causes open sores and ulcers that can require amputations.
Its growing role in overdose deaths is what prompted the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy to designate the drug as an emerging threat.
"I would say that this is a pretty quick response,” Synan said of Wednesday’s announcement. “And xylazine, we've seen it here for several years in Cincinnati area so I'm sure it was on the federal government's radar."
Aaron Laine has been in recovery for over six years and now works at DeCoach Recovery Center.
"What's happening now is dramatically worse than it’s ever been," Laine said.
Laine said they're seeing people become dually addicted to fentanyl and xylazine — a combination becoming increasingly common nationwide.
"People who are buying fentanyl and know that they're buying fentanyl, but it has xylazine in it now," he said.
As of now, there's no treatment path for the dual addiction. Laine said the treatment center is seeing an uptick in the drug cocktail.
"Just this past week alone, two different people," he said.
Laine says hospitals aren’t equipped for continuation of care, but treatment centers aren't equipped with the proper medical care.
"There's a lot of places that won't take (people) just because of the liability behind it. That's a frightening thing to think about," Laine said. "That somebody who actually wants help in our community can't get it because of this drug that no one knows how to treat it or isn't willing to."
As the White House continues to monitor the emerging threat, the Office of National Drug Control Policy is requesting $11 million to develop a strategy to tackle the drug’s spread.
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