According to recent research reports, men are more prone to use opioids than women. Percent of men using animal tranquilizers and dying of overdose is higher. These deaths may be due to drug overdoses involving the potent anesthetic xylazine.
According to data released by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, between January 2019 and June 2022, the percentage of fatal opioid overdoses including xylazine increased by 276%, from 2.9% to 10.9%.
It was the second report to point up a pattern of overdose-related fatalities.
Xylazine is used to sedate animals and is not intended for human use. “Tranq” is another name for it. After consuming it, people fall asleep for hours, which causes them to act aggressively and engage in misconduct.
The Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania’s Dr. Jeanmarie Perrone, head of Addiction Medicine Initiatives, stated: “With prolonged use, Tranq causes spectacular, disfiguring lesions, typically on a person’s legs or arms. This can happen whether the drug was snorted, smoked, or injected, however, it is unclear why.
According to sources, tranq is increasingly discovered mixed with the illicit supply of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that is expected to cause 70,601 deaths in 2021.
In the US, overdose deaths increased by 30% between 2019 and 2020. Illegally obtained fentanyl was to blame for the majority of the deaths.
Researchers observed that the rate of drug overdose deaths containing xylazine climbed from.03 per 100,000 people to 1.06 per 100,000 people in 2021 after studying death certificates beginning in 2018.
Although xylazine has been found in overdoses, there is no proof that tranq increases the risk of mortality; however, the combination of xylazine and fentanyl has negative withdrawal symptoms.
Xylazine is not an opioid, hence naloxone is ineffective against it. It is used as an urgent medication to fast treat opioid overdoses.
When an overdose is detected, naloxone should always be provided because it is quite effective at undoing the effects of fentanyl, according to specialists.
The states with the highest death tolls were Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Connecticut, where xylazine was also discovered.
Understanding what the population uses and what is in the drug supply is crucial. Public health messaging can suddenly alter as a result.
Fentanyl is deadly. Due to its extreme lethality and ability to cease breathing, it is the greatest emerging threat in today’s world.
