The sedative drug xylazine, mainly used as an animal tranquilizer, is showing up more in overdose cases in the Chattanooga area and nationwide, police said Thursday.
A federal drug control office on Wednesday labeled the drug an “emerging threat” when mixed with fentanyl. It’s the first drug to receive that designation from the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, which created the category in 2019 to flag fast-growing drug threats.
Seventeen of the estimated 226 drug-related deaths in Hamilton County in 2022 involved xylazine, according to Hamilton County Health Department data.
In 2021, there were 19 deaths involving the drug, an increase from just three the year before. According to the Health Department, the first death involving xylazine in Hamilton County was recorded in 2019.