Illicit fentanyl, the powerful opioid that is involved in more than 100,000 fatal drug overdoses every year, has completely shifted underground drug markets. In some places, it has completely replaced other opioids like heroin. The unpredictable nature of "dope" is part of what makes it so deadly.
But now a new drug is complicating the drug supply with even more grisly results. It's called xylazine, a commonly-used animal tranquilizer veterinarians routinely employ in their practice. For many years, in places like Puerto Rico and Philadelphia, xylazine has been mixed with heroin (and now, fentanyl) in what is known on the streets as "tranq dope." However, the drug mixture is increasingly spreading to new markets.
