Fentanyl mixed with xylazine makes its way to Baldwin

Fentanyl mixed with xylazine makes its way to Baldwin

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is warning the American public of a sharp increase in the trafficking of fentanyl mixed with xylazine. Xylazine, also known as “Tranq,” is a powerful sedative that the DEA has seized in 48 of 50 states, including seizures of the drug in both Baldwin and Mobile counties. The DEA Laboratory System is reporting that in 2022 approximately 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized by the DEA contained xylazine. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug veterinary use.
Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier, according to a DEA press release. Because xylazine is not an opioid, naloxone (Narcan) does not reverse its effects.People who inject drug mixtures containing xylazine also can develop severe wounds, including necrosis—the rotting of human tissue—that may lead to amputation.
According to the CDC, 107,735 Americans died between August 2021 and August 2022 from drug poisonings, with 66 percent of those deaths involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl. The Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco Cartel in Mexico, using chemicals largely sourced from China, are primarily responsible for the vast majority of the fentanyl that is being trafficked in communities across the United States.