Drug used in horse surgeries is being found in fentanyl in Ventura County, officials say

Tom Kisken, Ventura County Star
·4 min read
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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 U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved for veterinary use.
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 U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved for veterinary use.

Fentanyl helped spawn 100 overdose deaths in Ventura County over the first six months of 2023, far more than any other drug.

Now substance abuse experts worry the local emergence of a sedative called xylazine could push fatalities even higher.

Also known as tranq and zombie drug, xylazine is being increasingly used as an additive to fentanyl. It makes the synthetic opioid’s high last longer but depresses the respiratory system so dramatically people can just stop breathing. It also can cause the skin to decay in horrific wounds, inspiring the zombie nickname.

The fentanyl-xylazine pairing has been linked to rising overdose deaths across the nation and has triggered alerts from the California Department of Public Health as well as proposed legislation from Gov. Gavin Newsom.

In Ventura County, xylazine's presence remains lower than in many regions of the nation but is steady enough to spark concern about the possibility it could suddenly rise. The drug paired with fentanyl contributed to at least one overdose death in the last year and emerged in tests following an earlier death in 2021.

Ventura County Sheriff’s officials said the substance has been found in at least nine drug seizures so far this year, eight of them also containing fentanyl and the other involving heroin.

“It’s here. It’s not the next wave. It’s on top of what we’re dealing with already,” said Dan Hicks, manager of the Ventura County Behavioral Health Department’s substance abuse prevention program. He asserted the sedative complicates and compounds a fentanyl problem already at crisis levels.

“Every week we hear about someone who had a tranq and fentanyl experience,” he said.

Xylazine works as a liquid tranquilizer and has been used for decades to sedate horses and other animals for surgery. Newsom’s proposed legislation, announced last week, would protect the veterinary use but would classify the drug as a controlled substance and stiffen penalties for trafficking it.

The substance began to surface in tandem with fentanyl in overdose deaths in the Northeast several years ago and is moving across the nation.

Last week, state public health officials sent an all-facility alert to health care sites across California about the drug’s ability to reduce breathing, blood pressure and heart rates to dangerous levels.The alert also cited skin wounds that can include abscesses, ulcers and infections. The wounds can require amputation.

Ventura County's first hospital detox program aims to help fight fentanyl epidemic

“You have people literally decayed to the bones,” said Sheriff’s Sgt. John Hajducko, leader of the county fentanyl overdose crimes unit that includes law enforcement agencies and the Ventura County District Attorney's Office. Testing for xylazine in drug seizures began last year and has shown a steady presence of the drug, almost always in combination with fentanyl.

“Xylazine just makes the fentanyl we are fighting a whole lot worse,” Hajducko said.

County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Christopher Young said the drug was mixed with fentanyl and contributed to the death of a county resident in his 20s or 30s in April. Tests also revealed lower levels of the drug, along with cocaine, fentanyl and ethanol in a 2021 overdose.

The drug is used almost exclusively with other substances and is not nearly as potent as fentanyl. It is not an opioid and doesn’t respond to the medication naloxone that is used to reverse the effects of fentanyl, heroin and similar drugs.

Naloxone is still used in overdoses with hopes its impact on the more powerful drug will save lives.

County drug prevention workers include xylazine in alerts about fentanyl. They distribute test strips designed to detect the presence of fentanyl but have not yet acquired strips designed to show the presence of xylazine. Costs of the tranq strips vary but can run about $2 a strip.

Fentanyl's many dangers include potency levels that can rise from one batch to another. Dr. Tipu Khan, chief of the addiction medicine program at Ventura County Medical Center, worries pills that may already contain higher doses of the opioid may be even more powerful because they contain xylazine.

Like many in Ventura County, Khan said the drug is here but has not reached widespread levels.

“We’re all learning,” he said. “This is all new for us. My answers may be very different in three months.”

Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com or 805-437-0255.

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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: "Zombie' drug paired with fentanyl sparks worries in Ventura County