Los Angeles, California – A powerful veterinary tranquilizer known as tranq is rapidly infiltrating the illicit drug supply in Los Angeles, alarming federal officials, health experts, and outreach workers as the city confronts a disturbing surge in overdose cases and disfiguring injuries, particularly among its homeless population.
Tranq, also known as xylazine, was originally developed to sedate large animals. But when laced into street fentanyl—a practice now increasingly common across Southern California—it becomes a toxic combination that is not only deadly, but also resistant to traditional overdose reversal drugs like Narcan. In recent months, the drug has gained notoriety for its association with zombie-like states and grotesque flesh wounds, earning it the nickname “the zombie drug.”
Researchers and public health professionals say the rise of tranq marks a grim evolution in the opioid crisis, one that current tools are ill-equipped to handle. Dr. Joseph Friedman, an addiction researcher at UC San Diego, recently published findings that document tranq’s presence in fentanyl samples across Southern California and parts of Mexico. He describes the drug’s emergence as part of a disturbing “new normal” in the region’s street drug landscape…