Overdose deaths involving street xylazine surged years earlier than reported

https://www.npr.org/2023/06/30/ [login to see] /xylazine-overdose-deaths-surge-report
A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Friday found the street drug xylazine surged much earlier than previously reported.

The CDC concluded that by 2021, the "rate of drug overdose deaths involving xylazine was 35 times higher than the 2018 rate."

But the report shows the explosion of xylazine-related deaths began in 2018 with overdose fatalities rising to 627 in 2019 — doubling to 1,499 in 2020 — and then doubling once more to 3,468 in 2021.

This spring, the Biden administration declared illicit xylazine, also known as tranq on the street, an "emergent" threat.

At the time, officials warned the chemical, used by veterinarians as a horse tranquilizer, was spreading fast in street drugs, causing overdose deaths and terrible flesh wounds in people struggling with addiction nationwide.