A dangerous new street drug is sweeping across the nation and it's found its way to Indiana. Xylazine, also known as "tranq," is a powerful animal tranquilizer being mixed – sometimes unknown to the user – with heroin, cocaine and fentanyl, which can be a fatal combination. While the federal government is now turning its attention to this emerging threat, Indiana lawmakers took action earlier this year to get a better look at the drug's prevalence.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests symptoms of using the sedative can cause difficulty breathing, dangerously low blood pressure, slowed heart rate, wounds that can become infected, severe withdrawal symptoms and death. Since Xylazine is not an opioid, overdose reversal drugs like Naloxone are not effective.
Xylazine is being found more and more in overdose deaths across the nation. According to the CDC, this sedative was detected 276% more in overdoses involving illicitly manufactured fentanyl from January 2019 to June 2022. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, Xylazine-positive overdose deaths in the Midwest increased by more than 500% from 2020 to 2021.
Earlier this year, the Marion County Health Department reported that the animal tranquilizer was found in 55% of the syringes tested in Indianapolis. We also know that the drug has been traced to heroin used in Shelby County and can be linked to a local death.
These startling statistics are why I authored a new law this year to task coroners with testing suspected and confirmed overdose victims for Xylazine so that we can have a better understanding of the drug's prevalence across Indiana, and work to prevent overdoses and stop the drug's use. Moving forward, coroners will also identify if the person was resistant to drug overdose reversal medication.
It's good to see that this drug has caught national attention with both the CDC and White House recently releasing plans and recommendations to combat it. By learning more about where this drug is being used, we can work better together at all levels of government to spread awareness, prevent overdoses and ultimately save lives.
PHOTO CAPTION: State Rep. Jennifer Meltzer (R-Shelbyville) addresses the House of Representatives Feb. 23, 2023, at the Statehouse in downtown Indianapolis. Meltzer successfully authored a new law to require coroners to test for Xylazine, an animal tranquilizer being mixed with street drugs like heroin and cocaine, in any confirmed or suspected overdoses.
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State Rep. Jennifer Meltzer (R-Shelbyville) represents House District 73,
which includes portions of Bartholomew, Decatur, Jennings and Shelby counties.
Click here to download a high-resolution photo.
