According to a study, xylazine, a tranquilizer commonly used in veterinary medicine, is implicated in almost a third of fatal opioid overdoses in Philadelphia.
Since 2014, life expectancy on the other side of the Atlantic has tended to decrease steadily. The main causes of these rising deaths are obesity, liver disease, suicide, but also, and above all, overdoses of opioids, a family of synthetic psychotropics exerting an effect comparable to that of morphine. The United States has more than twenty million addicts .
The most common and consumed opioids are heroin and Fentanyl, with which other substances are mixed. These include synthetic cannabinoids or, more recently, xylazine, a tranquilizer used in veterinary medicine. In particular, it has been one of the most commonly used sedatives in the clinical management of horses since its marketing authorization in the late 1960s.
Note that xylazine is not considered an opioid on its own, but it is used as a cutting agent. Also, studies on the health effects of xylazine combined with opioids are limited. However, some research suggests that the mixture may actually increase the risk of death from overdose .
According to a recent study published in the journal Injury Prevention (based on post-mortem examinations), this drug is now involved in nearly a third of fatal opioid overdoses in Philadelphia . The researchers found that between 2010 and 2015, xylazine was detected in only 2% of overdose deaths, compared to 31% in 2019.
The findings suggest that “the opioid epidemic across the United States continues to evolve “, wrote the authors. According to them, the number of overdose deaths involving xylazine could also be underestimated in the country since laboratories do not systematically test for its presence.
Xylazine is FDA approved for animal use only . In other words, the drug is not approved for use in humans, in whom it may cause potentially dangerous side effects.
It is difficult to trace the origin of these drugs precisely, but the fact of obtaining xylazine ultimately only requires a veterinary prescription, which is child's play if you own a few horses, know someone who does, or just have something to "grease a few hooves".
As to why xylazine is mixed with some opioids , again difficult to say, the research on the subject being scarce. According to some focus groups in Philadelphia, people using these drugs have reported that xylazine helps to make the effects of opioids last longer , the authors point out. However, further study is needed to understand the synergistic effects of these blends.
