The new drug mix that makes the "deadliest substance the country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier"

An even more lethal threat is now added to the fentanyl epidemic: the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued an alert on Tuesday for the growing use of this drug mixed with xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer not approved for human consumption, also known as

.

“Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier,” DEA Director Anne Milgram said in an agency statement.

“The DEA has seized mixtures of xylazine and fentanyl in 48 out of 50 states across the country.”

A man displays an 'eight ball,' or 3.5 grams of fentanyl, May 2022, in Vancouver, Canada.Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag

The DEA Laboratory System reports that in 2022 approximately 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized by the DEA contained xylazine, Milgram said in the statement.

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Xylazine is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for veterinary use only as a sedative and pain reliever.

Fentanyl, on the other hand, an opioid prescribed for pain, is a pain reliever almost identical to heroin but 50 times more powerful, explains the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

There are two types: pharmaceutical and illegally manufactured.

Pharmaceutical fentanyl is still prescribed to treat severe pain, especially after surgery or for advanced cancer.

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Drug mixtures of xylazine and fentanyl put users at greater risk of fatal poisoning, government warns.

Since xylazine is not an opioid, naloxone (also known by the brand name Narcan) does not reverse its effects.

Still, experts always recommend giving naloxone if someone might be overdosing.

People who inject drug mixtures containing xylazine

which can lead to amputation, the DEA warns.

The supply of drugs in the East of the country, in areas like Kensington in Philadelphia, one of the epicenters of the overdose crisis in the United States, has evolved from heroin to fentanyl, and now these two mixed with xylazine, reports our sister network NBC News, according to the Department of Justice.

According to the CDC, 107,735 Americans died between August 2021 and August 2022 from overdoses, and 66% of those deaths involved synthetic opioids like fentanyl.

The Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel in Mexico, which use chemicals largely trafficked in China, are primarily responsible for the vast majority of fentanyl trafficked into communities in the United States.

Left: An evidence bag of fentanyl disguised as oxycodone at the Fresno County Sheriff's office, August 2020. Right: A photo of Jackson Laughinghouse in his mother's bed at their home in Greenville, North Carolina, July 2020. 2022. Jackson died of an opioid overdose in 2013. Left: Craig Kohlruss/Fresno Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty Images.

Right: Madeline Gray/The Washington Post via Getty Images

As of November 2022, the FDA had already communicated to health care providers the risks to patients exposed to xylazine when it was included in other illicit drugs.

"It is not known at this time whether the xylazine used in these scenarios is produced illicitly (in an unapproved manner) or is being diverted from the animal drug supply," the FDA said at the time, adding that it is continuing to investigate the source. of xylazine in the supply of illicit drugs.

Since the drug is not included in routine toxicology testing, the FDA added, it may not be reported in the numbers on overdoses.

Xylazine goes by a number of street names, including

and

, he said.