Officials: 'Tranq dope' is coming to Kern, if it's not already here

Aug. 12—Days after the death of a Delano resident, law enforcement officials across Kern County are warning the public that xylazine, a common animal tranquilizer, has entered the illicit drug supply and arrived on city streets.

According to an Aug. 5 Facebook post by the Delano Police Department, four Delano residents were recently found suffering from overdoses. First responders revived three of them with a combination of administered Naloxone, an opiate-reversing drug, and CPR.

"It is believed that fentanyl and xylazine, an animal tranquilizer, were consumed," the department wrote in the post.

Amid the ongoing fentanyl crisis, first responders in California are starting to see the opioid being increasingly cut with xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer that, once injected in humans, can cause painful skin lesions that itch and ooze, resembling chemical burns. The skin wounds, when left untreated, can sometimes require amputation of limbs.

"It's more toxic to the skin at lower concentration than other drugs," said Sarah Gonzalez, an addiction specialist at Kern Medical. "You can get really bad skin lesions if you inject it... and you can end up getting skin infections and essentially some rotting flesh. ... That's why they call it a zombie drug, because you have patients that are sedated and have all these skin lesions from the area where they injected (it)."

The substance first began appearing in drugs and powders on the East Coast and Puerto Rico. It has since devastated communities nationwide. While not a significant issue in Kern right now, Cmdr. Joel Swanson with the Kern County Sheriff's Office said it's typical for drug trends to start in areas with denser populations before working their way around.

"We have seen a few cases, but we haven't seen them widespread like some of the bigger cities, like Philadelphia, San Francisco, which have been getting hit hard with it," Swanson said. "But it is coming."

Some states, such as Florida, have or are considering listing xylazine as a controlled substance, which would prompt stricter enforcement. Dr. Jasmeet Bains, D-Bakersfield, who represents the state's 35th District in the Assembly, said she brought that up last week during a discussion on the Assembly floor regarding the fentanyl crisis.

"California has been way behind the eight ball on testing for tranq," Bains said. "Whereas states like Pennsylvania that are being overrun by tranq have increased their protocols on testing for it."

When the Drug Enforcement Administration put out a xylazine alert in March, it said that in 2022, it had found the drug in nearly 25% of confiscated fentanyl nationwide. The Food and Drug Administration announced in February it would start restricting unlawful importation of drug ingredients used in xylazine.

Approved 50 years ago as a veterinarian-prescribed analgesic, xylazine is not listed as a controlled substance for animals or humans and so it is not subject to stricter monitoring by the FDA.

"The FDA remains concerned about the increasing prevalence of xylazine mixed with illicit drugs, and this action is one part of broader efforts the agency is undertaking to address this issue," FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said in February.

Known as "tranq dope" or "zombie drug," the combination of these drugs can lead people into a stupor for hours and compound their high. And while naloxone blocks an opiate's effect on the brain, it is rendered weak by xylazine, forcing some first responders to use multiple doses of Narcan.

"Xylazine can cause central nervous system depression, so decreasing blood pressure, your heart rate, your breathing," Gonzalez said.

"Combining that with fentanyl, you end up having patients get fatal overdoses."

But using multiple doses of NARCAN is also dangerous, as it can put someone into withdrawal, which includes symptoms such as vomiting and intense pain. And while there is veterinary medicine for reversing xylazine in animals, there is no treatment for humans.

"I think we would need a combo product," Gonzalez said. "Where we would use both naloxone and a reversal agent for xylazine."

Xylazine's true prevalence is unknown, since hospitals don't test for it. Gonzalez said cases aren't discovered until people are dead and in the coroner's office.

"California doesn't even know how much tranq is in the community, because we haven't even really been testing for it," Bains said.

In May, when, Gonzalez said, she was still working in Ventura County, data showed there were no known overdose deaths related to xylazine. The county's Department of Behavioral Health and Recovery Services did not respond to requests for comment Friday.

And though it has been found in the blood of those who are killed by it, experts can't link the two as a correlation.

This leaves it largely under the radar of law enforcement and subject to abuse.

"It's really hard to track," Gonzalez said. "Because there's products coming over the border every day of fentanyl, and we don't know when we're going to start seeing it, but it's something that people have to be aware of."

As part of the $310.8 billion state budget, $10.5 million was set aside for a Kern County task force to address the opioid crisis locally. Bains believes this task force will be monumental in starting studies and educating the community on what protocols need to be instituted to make sure it's effectively addressed.

"They could have chosen anywhere to get this started, in any city or any county, and they specifically chose Kern County because the person, the addiction specialist in the state Legislature, which is me, has entered," Bains said.

The details of the task force are still being ironed out, Bains said. During her recess period this month, the assemblywoman said, she is meeting with law enforcement officials and health experts to develop the program.

"It's something we're willing to be a part of," Swanson of KCSO said. "We're going to work with other county agencies, such as the (District Attorney's) office, public health, to come up with a game plan to combat fentanyl and also xylazine."

So far in 2023, Swanson said, KCSO has seized 50 pounds of fentanyl. Last year, the department recovered more than 200 pounds. Last month, county deputies recovered 150,000 fentanyl pills, a larger pull than usual.

"I don't think we catch even a small percentage of what moves through here," Swanson said.