Multnomah County health officials warn of the dangers of 'tranq' drug
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — As Portland battles a drug crisis, local health officials say an animal tranquilizer is now appearing in the drug supply.
The drug known as xylazine has been the subject of growing concern, though the Multnomah County Health Department recently clarified they have no reason to believe it is widespread in the county.
Despite this, the drug has been found in a number of overdose deaths around Multnomah County.
On the East Coast, it’s become increasingly popular to mix xylazine with fentanyl. Even though the trend isn’t as prevalent around Portland compared to other areas of the country, experts are still watching out for tranq as its use continues to be documented locally.
Multnomah County said the first overdose death from tranq was in 2022. Last year, five more people died from overdoses. The mixture makes it difficult to wake someone up after they take it.
The life-saving drug Narcan can be used when overdosing on tranq. However, Narcan will only weaken the effects of fentanyl but not the tranquilizer.
Multnomah County Deputy Health Officer Teresa Everson told KOIN 6 News that Narcan is still recommended for any kind of overdose.
“Our goal is not to wake somebody up and if somebody has xylazine on board, it would be really hard to wake them up. What we're trying to do is make sure that they're breathing, that they're not going to die,” Everson said.
A possible side effect of using tranq is skin ulcers, a phenomenon known as necrotizing.
“It's possible to develop really specific kinds of wounds that are associated with not getting enough blood supply to an area. And we call that like necrotizing. Skin laundered or death of the skin there. It's not something that happens to everybody who's exposed to xylazine,” Everson said.
Haven Wheelock has worked for the health center Outside In, which provides many services to the community. The center has tests to check what’s in the drugs so people know what they are using. Wheelock said they see more than a hundred people every day who are using fentanyl and methamphetamines.
“Addiction is a very isolating, very like, stigmatized health condition,” said Wheelock, who is the program supervisor for Outside In’s Drug Users Health Services. “Addiction with drugs like tranq are killing people on Portland's streets.”
Wheelock said many people on the streets are struggling and hopeless.
“Which is why I'm very grateful to have this space and it have a space for people to come and like feel valued and seen and be able to connect them to health resources to the care that they deserve,” she said.
So far in 2024, there haven’t been any overdose deaths from tranq in Multnomah County. However, officials said tests are done on people who may have died from an overdose, with the results taking weeks or even months to process.