MOSES LAKE — An animal tranquilizer is increasingly being found in illegal opioids like fentanyl and heroin making it more difficult to treat people overdosing on opioids with Narcan, according to the Grant County Health District.

“We haven’t seen anything in Grant County yet, and fortunately Washington state hasn’t had any deaths associated with it yet, but it is difficult because it doesn’t show up on a tox screen,” said Laina Mitchell, GCHD investigations and response manager.

Mitchell was referring to xylazine, a synthetic non-opioid animal tranquilizer sold under several trade names including Rompum and Anased. The drug, which is referred to as “tranq, tranq dope, sleep-cut and zombie drug” because of the euphoria it produces, is being mixed with illegal opioids as one way of limiting or preventing the ability of naloxone, or Narcan, to revive those who have overdosed, Mitchell said.

“It’s not an opioid, so it doesn’t respond to Narcan,” she said. “It’s still recommended that if someone were presenting as an overdoes that Narcan be used. It just doesn’t counteract xylazine.”

While the drug produces a euphoric high, Mitchell said one of the side effects is infection, gangrene and tissue death around injection sites, one of the reasons xylazine has earned the name “zombie drug.”

“It’s a very visible thing, wherever there’s a vein folks can inject,” she said. “The FDA was advising healthcare providers to really do a full physical assessment so they can determine if there’s more than just a wound abscess.”

Law enforcement does not have any field tests for xylazine, and the drug does not show up in standard lab tests of urine, Mitchell said, so it’s hard to know just how prevalent xylazine is.

“There’s definitely a barrier in reporting and getting access to that data,” she said. “We do know that we’ve seen increases in overdose-related deaths (nationwide).”

“We have not seen much of it locally yet, but it’s coming,” said Moses Lake Police Capt. Mike Williams.

Last week, Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Yakima, announced the creation of the Central Washington Fentanyl Task Force to help address increasing fentanyl use and addiction in the region. The task force consists of police chiefs — including Moses Lake Police Chief Kevin Fuhr — prosecutors, medical professionals and state legislators from across Central Washington as well as tribal leaders from the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and the Yakama Nation.

The task force will evaluate federal, state and local data to evaluate the fentanyl situation and examine ways to improve both enforcement of existing drug laws and provide new opportunities for those addicted to find treatment, according to a Newhouse press release.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.