NH officials: Mixing animal tranquilizer with fentanyl is growing problem
Feb. 8—CONCORD — New Hampshire is seeing a growing number of overdose deaths linked to xylazine, a Narcan-resistant drug that is being "cut" with fentanyl, according to state law enforcement and human services officials.
Xylazine is a veterinary tranquilizer used for sedation, anesthesia, muscle relaxation and pain relief in animals. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has stressed it's not safe for human use and can result in "life-threatening" side effects.
New Hampshire Safety Commissioner Robert Quinn said it appears up to 15% of recent opioid deaths here can be traced to the xylazine, which is being mixed or cut most commonly with fentanyl but also with painkillers, cocaine and heroin.
"This is exceptionally dangerous, and we've had a difficult time identifying just how many overdoses are linked to it," Quinn told the Executive Council during a briefing Wednesday. "Clearly this is a growing phenomenon, and we've got to get a handle on it."
Executive Councilor Ted Gatsas, R-Manchester, asked whether it played any part in the recent spike in overdose deaths in Manchester. Officials are waiting on tests to determine whether they are linked to xylazine.
Dr. Jonathan Ballard, chief medical officer with the Department of Health and Human Services, said the new threat is particularly concerning because while Narcan or its generic naloxone is effective in reversing many fentanyl overdoses, it doesn't have the same effect on xylazine.
"To anyone who thinks naloxone will be a crutch, be aware xylazine is being used out there," Quinn said. "The drug, when combined with fentanyl, is a deadly combination."
Ballard said first responders continue to administer naloxone because fentanyl remains the dominant cause of overdoses.
"You don't know what is in the drug, so we still always use Narcan," Ballard said.
Cheap, easy to get
Quinn said drug sellers or recreational users could buy xylazine on the commercial market for as little as "$6 to $30" for a kilogram, about 2.2 pounds.
"It's so easy to get and cheap as well, and both are really worrisome," Quinn said during an interview.
The drug first appeared in recreational use in the "early 2000s" in Puerto Rico, he said, and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration continues to see it as a growing threat in states across the country.
It is difficult to determine from toxicology reports whether xylazine is the cause of an overdose death.
Testing at the state's drug lab eventually can identify xylazine in the body, but Quinn said it's not always clear whether that caused the death.
"Trying to determine the cause of death is difficult because you are dealing with two deadly chemicals," Quinn said.
Ballard said the drug is a "caustic" substance that will break down tissue. The most common symptom of xylazine exposure is "severe necrotic skin ulcers," according to the FDA.
"It causes some terrible wounds as well, if that person does survive," Ballard said.
Gov. Chris Sununu said xylazine is the latest "poly drug" introduced into the market by drug sellers, and there will be more.
"Next month it will be something else, and then something else will be cut into the opioid," Sununu said.
"I can see a time when the majority of deaths will be from these poly drugs. Identifying where it came from is important. This (introduction of new drugs) is never going to end."
