Deadly Street Drug ‘Tranq’ Found in San Francisco Overdose Deaths

Paramedics respond with a stretcher at the Tenderloin homeless center in San Francisco on Feb. 5, 2022. Cynthia Cai/The Epoch Times

Traces of a deadly drug called “tranq” has been found in the bodies of people who died of an overdose in San Francisco, authorities say.

Tranq, or xylazine, is an animal tranquilizer that authorities believe is added to illicit street opioids to heighten and prolong effects, particularly for fentanyl, which is known for short, but intense, highs.

The substance has been found in the drug supplies in eastern regions of the U.S. for years, but this is the first time it has been identified in overdose deaths in San Francisco, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

Trace amounts of tranq were found in four out of 145 people who died of an overdose that were tested between Dec. 1, 2022, and Jan. 15 this year. All four of the cases also involved fentanyl, according to the city’s public health department’s alert released on Feb. 16.

The department said it is “working to understand the extent of xylazine in the city and respond accordingly.”

The tranquilizer is known to cause severe skin lesions, leaving users open wounds that can lead to infections and even amputations.

“To date in San Francisco there have been no recent reports of increased severity of wounds or syndromes consistent with xylazine intoxication or withdrawal,” the department stated.

Naloxone, known by the commercial name Narcan, reverses the effects of opioid overdoses. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Naloxone—a life-saving medication used to reverse the effects of opioids, more commonly known by the brand name Narcan—doesn’t work on tranq, because it’s not an opioid. However, the health department still recommends naloxone be administered in overdose cases because of the “high likelihood” that fentanyl is also involved.

While naloxone can restore breathing in an opioid overdose, the user “may still be somnolent or minimally responsive because of the ongoing effects of xylazine, which will gradually wear off,” according to the alert.

“People who are trained in naloxone should be reminded that the goal of an overdose reversal is to restore breathing, not to necessarily restore full consciousness,” the health department states.

Research shows deaths linked to tranq have spread westward across the country, especially in the northeastern states, according to the National Institute of Health. The institute states that from 2015 to 2020, the percentage of all drug overdose deaths involving xylazine jumped from 2 percent to 26 percent in Pennsylvania. Additionally, Xylazine was involved in 19 percent of all drug overdose deaths in Maryland in 2021 and 10 percent in Connecticut in 2020.