SANTA CRUZ – Public health officials in Santa Cruz County are warning that a dangerous sedative is being detected in illegal opioids with alarming rates.
Xylazine, a powerful animal painkiller not approved for human use, is added to the street opioids fentanyl and heroin to enhance the drugs’ effects, often without the users’ knowledge, making the already potentially deadly drugs even more deadly.
“Xylazine is increasingly being added to street drugs, leading to a higher risk of overdose and serious health complications,” said Dr. Lisa Hernandez, Santa Cruz County Health Officer, in a news release from the county’s health department. “The safest approach is to avoid using street drugs. Stay as safe as possible: never take them alone, recognize the signs of an overdose, seek help and stay informed.”
In particular, the combination of xylazine and fentanyl is known as “tranq dope.” This formula is particularly problematic because xylazine poisoning cannot be reversed by the opioid overdose drug naloxone, which is now sold over the counter under the brand name Narcan.
Still, the county health department clarified that bystanders should administer the life-saving medication to a person who has overdosed to reverse the opioid component, then call 911 and provide ventilation if needed. If xylazine was mixed in with the fentanyl poisoning, county officials wrote in the news release, the person could still be very drowsy even after naloxone is administered.
Medications mixed with xylazine are also more likely to cause infections, abscesses or ulcers, according to the county’s news release. The sores most commonly occur at injection sites, but any type of xylazine use increases the risk of serious skin injury, officials said. Anyone with a wound caused by xylazine should keep it clean and covered and seek medical attention immediately.
The first known fatal xylazine poisoning in the county was recorded in June 2023, when a 35-year-old woman was found unconscious and later tested positive for both fentanyl and the sedative. A spokesperson for the county health department said there have been three xylazine-fentanyl overdose deaths in Santa Cruz County in 2023 and one so far in 2024.
Fatal fentanyl poisonings are also a major public health threat in the county and have increased dramatically in recent years. Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Ashley Keehn told the Sentinel that there were 38 fentanyl overdose deaths in the county from January to July of this year. That’s nearly 68% of the overdose deaths during the same period, which totaled 56. Keehn added that there were 133 fentanyl overdose deaths last year, 65 in 2022, 42 in 2021, 19 in 2020 and five in 2019.
A list of naloxone distribution sites can be found at hipscc.org/naloxone. Anyone ready to seek treatment for substance abuse can contact their primary care physician or call the county’s Behavioral Health Department at 800-952-2335.
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