The Biden administration is tackling the increasing use of fentanyl combined with the animal tranquilizer xylazine with a plan to reduce overdose deaths of the drug combination, known as the “tranquilizer drug,” White House officials announced Tuesday.
The goal is to reduce overdose deaths from the combination by 15% over the next two years.
“Our goal is to remove fentanyl mixed with xylazine from our streets and from our communities,” Neera Tanden, a White House internal policy adviser, said at a news conference Monday.
The plan includes testing people who have overdosed when they are brought to emergency departments, as well as testing confiscated illegal drugs for xylazine, to get a better idea of how widespread the tranquilizer is in the US. USA
He The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last month that the percentage of fatal opioid overdoses in which xylazine was detected increased 276% in recent years, from 2.9% to 10.9% from January 2019 to June 2022.
One reason for the increase is that researchers began looking specifically for tranquilizers in overdose deaths.
TO report last year from the Drug Enforcement Administration found that xylazine overdose deaths increased 1,127% from 2020 to 2021 in the South, 750% in the West and 516% in the Midwest, administration officials said at the briefing.
While fentanyl can easily cause a fatal overdose, the addition of xylazine further slows breathing and can cause painful, gaping, and disfiguring wounds on the user’s body.
“As a doctor, I have never seen such serious injuries on this scale,” Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, told reporters.
The White House plan includes trying to figure out how to prevent xylazine from entering the drug supply. “We know that xylazine comes from online sellers abroad, including those in China, and is mixed into drugs in the United States,” Gupta said, adding that it also comes from Puerto Rico and Mexico.
The administration is exploring how to schedule xylazine under the controlled substances TOConnecticut“while simultaneously maintaining the legitimate supply of xylazine in veterinary medicine,” according to the plan outlined Tuesday.
Federal officials are also focused on developing specific treatments for xylazine and investigating how the drug, which was developed to sedate animals undergoing surgery, affects the human body.
“We don’t know if xylazine causes dependence and withdrawal,” Dr. Jeanmarie Perrone, director of the Division of Medical Toxicology and Addiction Medicine Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, said in an interview.
“If there is a withdrawal syndrome, how is it treated? How is it prevented? How severe is it?” Perrone said. “That would be a very important thing to resolve.”
Perrone was one of 150 research scientists and clinical experts the National Institute on Drug Abuse assembled last month to educate the White House about unmet research needs specific to fentanyl and xylazine.
Perrone said the plan overall seems comprehensive, but he wished it had included input from people who use xylazine and the health professionals who treat them.
The ultimate goal of reducing deaths from “tranquility,” the administration said, is part of President Joe Biden’s plan. National Drug Control Strategy to reduce the total number of drug overdose deaths.
Gupta said at Monday’s briefing that the program will involve various federal departments, including Health and Human Services and Homeland Security, with the goal of getting addicted people into treatment.
Gupta was blunt about the urgent need. “You can’t treat the dead,” he said.
All of that will require money. In March, Biden asked Congress for $46.1 billion for national drug control programs, like the one detailed Tuesday. Congress has not acted on the request.
