(The Center Square) – Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and state law enforcement officials have issued a public safety alert about the dangers of Xylazine, an animal tranquilizer, referred to as “Tranq” on the streets. Tranq has been found to be laced in fentanyl and other drugs that have led to overdoses and deaths.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration issued a public safety alert last month warning Americans about the “sharp increase in the trafficking of fentanyl mixed with Xylazine.”
The DEA said it had seized Xylazine and fentanyl mixtures in 48 of 50 states. Its laboratory system also reported that 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills DEA agents had seized and were tested contained Xylazine. After the DEA warning, Moody called on the federal agency to add Xylazine to the federal list of controlled substances.
On Wednesday, she and law enforcement leaders issued a public safety alert.
Xylazine is now the sixth-most identifiable illicit drug in Florida according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Xylazine also appears to be more prevalent in overdose deaths in the Sarasota County area than in other parts of the state, she and Sarasota County Sheriff Kurt Hoffman and Florida Department of Law Enforcement Special Agent in Charge Eli Lawson warned at a news conference on Wednesday.
Hoffman said his detectives and laboratory personnel have confirmed Xylazine has been seized in Sarasota County. “The drug’s lack of a response to Narcan complicates law enforcement’s abilities when encountered,” he said.
In two years, the frequency with which the drug has been identified in FDLE crime labs as doubled, Lawson said.
“In 2021, xylazine was the 11th-most frequently identified drug in the FDLE crime labs,” Lawson said. “In 2023, so far, it is the sixth-most frequently present drug in processing drug-related evidence statewide.”
He also said since 2021, FDLE crime labs statewide have logged 1,090 cases of xylazine being present in processed evidence, saying “this growing challenge is serious.”
According to a Florida Medical Examiners Commission report, despite the fact that the commission didn’t request reporting of Xylazine, many districts reported deaths with 236 occurrences of Xylazine from January to December 2021.
This year, xylazine was identified more than 55 times a month in FDLE crime labs, up from 45 in 2022 and 32 in 2021, according to FDLE data. This data excludes xylazine identifications from other Florida crime labs.
According to FDLE Medical Examiner’s Annual Reports, DeSoto, Manatee and Sarasota counties reported 246 overdose deaths due to fentanyl in 2021, a 485% increase since 2016.
Xylazine mixed with fentanyl is also “complicating life-saving measures by first responders,” Moody said. “When mixed with fentanyl, xylazine can make it difficult for first responders to administer life-saving treatment – as naloxone is ineffective on sedatives such as xylazine. In Florida, we have already outlawed this dangerous drug, but we are calling on the federal government to follow our lead and take action to reduce the supply of this dangerous substance and save lives.”
Last week, Moody sent a letter to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram calling on her to add Xylazine to the list of controlled substances. In Florida, Xylazine is already a Schedule I substance.
The FDA has authorized Xylazine to be used for veterinary use only. Because it can be purchased on the internet in liquid and powder form without any association to a veterinary profession or veterinary requirements, “swift action is needed by the DEA to prevent this growing problem from continuing to snowball,” Moody said.
“The Biden administration needs to act with greater alacrity as the opioid epidemic continues to evolve,” she wrote Milgram. “While Florida’s scheduling of Xylazine may have slowed its growth here, the reality of illicit drugs and how they are trafficked is that unless a consistent policy is applied, illicit drugs will proliferate.”
This article First appeared in the center square