White House launches national response plan for combatting 'tranq' drug deaths

The Biden administration is rolling out a national response plan to deal with the threat of fentanyl combined with xylazine.

Xylazine, also known as “tranq,” is an easily accessible veterinary drug approved for use in animals as a sedative and pain reliever. But it is also being used by drug dealers as a low-cost cutting agent in drugs like fentanyl, possibly as a way to extend a user’s high.

Officials said the ultimate goal of the plan announced Tuesday is to reduce the number of xylazine drug poisoning deaths by 15 percent in at least three of four U.S. census regions by 2025. 

The plan involves six "pillars of action," including testing, data collection, prevention, supply reduction, scheduling and research.

"We need more testing to get a national picture of the threat," Rahul Gupta, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) told reporters during a press briefing.

Gupta said testing for xylazine was ongoing in community and law enforcement settings, but it wasn’t enough. He said the administration will work to develop new tests, and also make xylazine test strips available for the first time.

Xylazine test strips are available for purchase, Gupta said, and the administration wants to ensure they get into the communities that need them. 

He called on Congress to fund the White House budget request for emerging threats "in order to ensure that we are getting more resources out for prevention treatment, as well as harm reduction measures to people as quickly as possible."

The White House also said it will consider whether to schedule xylazine as a controlled substance, and work to disrupt the supply of xylazine. 

Gupta said the White House doesn't want to disrupt the veterinarian industry, so if it does schedule xylazine as a controlled substance, it will need to balance protecting public health while making sure there remains a legitimate supply. 

Veterinarians use drug products containing xylazine, but it is not safe for use in people and may cause serious and life-threatening side effects. It can cause people to stop breathing, and causes serious skin lesions when it is injected.

"As a physician, I've never seen wounds this bad at this scale," Gupta said. "Right now, the medical community knows how xylazine adulterated with fentanyl affects individuals, but there is not a single agreed upon framework for treating them."

Xylazine is spreading quickly, and federal agencies are sounding the alarm. The drug has been detected in nearly every state. 

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that between January 2019 and June 2022, the monthly percentage of overdose deaths from fentanyl combined with xylazine increased by 276 percent.

The White House in April declared xylazine-laced fentanyl an official emerging drug threat to the nation, and the national response plan is required as part of the designation.

"If we thought fentanyl was dangerous, fentanyl combined with xylazine is even deadlier," Gupta said.