Ohio Governor Mike DeWine issued an executive order on Wednesday that would make Ohio one of the first states in the nation to designate xylazine as a controlled substance drug.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, xylazine, a non-opioid veterinary tranquilizer, is a central nervous system depressant that can cause drowsiness and amnesia and slow breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure to dangerously low levels.
The governor’s office stated in a press release that xylazine is not permitted for human use and has been discovered in the illegal drug trade in the state, frequently coupled with substances like heroin, fentanyl, or novel synthetic opioids like nitazene.
“This lethal drug has dangerous side effects which can’t be reversed by naloxone, so there is no way to reverse its impact on people. The rate of overdose deaths involving a mixture of xylazine and other drugs is increasing at an alarming rate, which is exactly why we need to take action now,” DeWine said.
The Ohio Department of Health reports that since 2019, there have been more overdose deaths with xylazine in Ohio, with 15 occurring in 2019, 45 in 2020, and 75 in 2021. Although mortality data for 2022 is not yet complete, as of March 14, 2022, the Ohio Department of Health had tallied 113 overdose deaths involving xylazine. 99.2 percent of the 248 accidental drug overdose deaths also involved fentanyl.
Xylazine may exacerbate respiratory depression in the case of a drug overdose when combined with an opioid. When humans consume xylazine they may develop crippling skin ulcers that rot tissue and infect the body with bacteria, increasing the risk of amputation compared to users of other injectable medications.
The Ohio Narcotics Intelligence Center (ONIC) reports that crime labs in Ohio estimate that between 25 percent and 30 percent of fentanyl cases include xylazine, though they also claim that the full presence of the drug is likely under reported because the majority of toxicology and crime labs do not test for the presence of illicit drugs.
According to the governor’s office, xylazine’s inclusion in Schedule III of controlled substances will enable more thorough testing and make it a crime to trade or sell it for illicit use.
DeWine said that xylazine is the first dangerous substance the state of Ohio Board of Pharmacy has added to Ohio’s controlled drug schedule in 2023.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Mike DeWine” by Mike DeWine.Â
