A dangerous development in the fight against Fentanyl has grown more prevalent in our communities and across the country over the past year, according to a press release issued on Dec. 4 by District 27 District Attorney Jack Thorp.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration issued a Public Safety Alert warning of the dangers of Xylazine being mixed with Fentanyl. In that Alert, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram declared that “Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, Fentanyl, even deadlier.”

The DEA says that Xylazine and Fentanyl have been found combined in almost every state. As of March 2023, that agency had seized mixtures of the drugs in 48 states.

“This lethal poison is present in our communities, and we want to make our people aware of the incredible dangers they face if they use illicit drugs,” Thorp said. “It’s almost impossible to know what substances are mixed into those illegal drugs. This combination of Fentanyl and Xylazine has already claimed lives in this district.”

One of those people was a 58-year-old male, of Muldrow, who was found dead in November of 2022. According to the Medical Examiner’s report, his blood contained methamphetamine, Fentanyl and Xylazine, and the combined toxicity was the cause of death.

Xylazine is a powerful nonopioid sedative that has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration only for use in veterinary medicine. It has not been approved for any human use.

Near the end of 2022, the FDA issued a warning to health care professionals about risks of Xylazine exposure, which include many symptoms similar to opioid use, as well as necrotic skin ulcerations.

In that warning, the FDA also explained that naloxone (Narcan) is not effective against Xylazine and that routine toxicology screens will not be able to detect it.

“Fentanyl is extremely deadly, but at least Narcan, if it’s used early enough, may prevent a few deaths,” Thorp said. “When mixed with Xylazine, the chances of death increase dramatically. People need to be aware that this combination is out there and be very careful about what working with law enforcement to combat the spread of these poisons,” Thorp said, “and work to hold accountable any person involved in their distribution.”