Drug Additive Linked To Overdoses Found In SoCal. Here’s What We Know.

Commonly known as Tranq, Tranq-Dope or Zombie Drug, the animal tranquilizer Xylazine has been linked to increasing overdoses in New England among people who use illicit street drugs. Now it’s been found in Southern California.

“We had four overdoses in San Francisco that led to death. There have been positive drug samples as close as Orange County,” said Dr. Sid Puri, associate medical director of prevention at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, division of Substance Abuse Prevention and Control.

Xylazine is the name of an animal tranquilizer

that is being used to lace designer drugs like fentanyl and other opioids. It works on different receptors in the brain than opioids to cause sedation and muscle relaxation as well as prolonging or intensifying the high from other substances. When mixed with other central nervous system depressants such as alcohol or sedatives, Xylozine augments the sedation and slows breathing which can lead to a fatal overdose.

The drug is approved for use in animals by the Food and Drug Administration, but not in humans. It’s commonly used by veterinarians.

“When they did human studies on it, they decided it wasn’t appropriate for human use because it lowered our blood pressure, our heart rate, and our breathing rates to dangerously low levels that could lead to death,” Puri said.