CINCINNATI — Hamilton County officials are warning of an uptick in xylazine, a sedative for animals that is being cut into other street drugs — especially fentanyl.
“You're not going to be able to recognize it get mixed in there,” said Hamilton County Coroner Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco. “It's powder form. There is nothing that’s going to say, ‘Oh wait, it's got a big X on it, it's xylazine.”
The drug is not approved for human use and can be dangerous. Sammarco said the coroner’s office first started seeing the drug pop up in 2019.
“This is a multibillion-dollar industry for the people that are selling the drugs,” Sammarco said. “So they will find ways to maximize their profits and it is at the cost of human lives.”
“It's definitely in Cincinnati for sure, and it's dangerous,” said Noam Barnard, executive director at the Coalition for Community Safety.
In 2022, the coroner’s office tested 3,209 items that contained fentanyl. Xylazine was detected in 61% of them.
“We don't have anything to counteract it that EMS carries right now,” Sammarco said.
Xylazine is not an opioid, so it does not respond to typical overdose-reversal medications like Narcan.
“Unfortunately, it creates a little bit of extra burden on our emergency medical responders,” Barnard said.
Experts agree that Narcan should still be used during an overdose, as it might not be clear what substance is causing the overdose.
“Do not leave the Narcan behind,” Barnard said. “If somebody is experiencing an overdose, especially from using fentanyl or some other strong opiate, that overdose is still a thing.”
You can order Narcan online here. If you see someone overdosing, you should also perform CPR and call 911.
In 2022, fentanyl caused 288 overdose deaths in Hamilton County, according to the coroner’s office. Xylazine was listed as a contributory cause in 50 of them. Xylazine has been listed as a contributory cause in five overdose deaths in the county so far this year. The coroner’s office said actual numbers could be even higher.
“We will always see some sort of trend that comes along with fentanyl to kind of enhance the product,” said Newtown Police Chief Tom Synan, a member of the Hamilton County Addiction Response Coalition. “Fentanyl is still the number one killer. The problem is when you start adding other narcotics to a powerful drug like fentanyl, you're really kind of enhancing the potential danger.”
In late February, the FDA announced it’s taking steps to restrict the illegal import of xylazine into the country.
“The question will be how long does the trend last, because it is a veterinarian drug,” said Synan. “So when does supply run out? The United States has picked up on this.”
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