<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2MrYtc_0lymVt5q00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2MrYtc_0lymVt5q00" width="1320" height="743" ></figure>PORTLAND, Ore. — Multnomah County has confirmed to KATU News that the drug known as "tranq" was found in the system of a person who died of an overdose in late 2022.Tranq is the street name for a veterinary tranquilizer called xylazine, which is often mixed with opioids.The county says it cannot definitively say that tranq was the primary cause of death, as the person had several substances in their system, but it did contribute.The health department issued an alert to physicians and health care providers in the metro area after the findings.With reports that the use of tranq is on the rise in the United States, we asked the county how widespread its use is here.It tells us the first indication of its use locally was May 2021; however, it believes less than 2% of the fentanyl in our area is laced with tranq.The county said since xylazine is not an opioid, the use of Narcan will not help someone overdosing on it. But the county said that since xylazine is often mixed with opioids, Narcan should still be given to someone who is overdosing.“Naloxone [Narcan] will help improve breathing if they have taken opioids, even if xylazine is mixed with them,” the county said in an email.The county said 911 should be called if someone is suspected of overdosing on any drug.The county encourages drug users to visit a harm reduction service site. Locations and schedules can be found here.We also asked the county other questions about tranq, including its dangers.<h2>What are the dangers of the drug?</h2>A person who has taken a drug with xylazine in it may lose consciousness, or go in and out of consciousness (known as “nodding” or “nodding out”). Effects of xylazine can be felt within a few minutes of taking the drug, and in animals the effects can last up to 4 hours. We are still determining how long effects can last in humans. It might not be possible to wake them up during an overdose, and 911 should always be called for a suspected overdose.<ul><li>Xylazine can lower heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate to dangerous levels. It can cause fatal overdose, especially when mixed with other drugs.</li></ul><ul><li>Xylazine use can cause dependency and withdrawal. Withdrawal from xylazine is reported to cause severe feelings of anxiety, among other symptoms</li></ul><ul><li>Xylazine can also cause serious skin wounds, infection, and muscle or tissue damage. Sometimes these wounds are so serious that some or all of an arm or leg has to be removed by a doctor (amputation).</li></ul><ul><li>Xylazine wounds can look like deep black sores in the skin. Wounds might show up in random spots, not only where drugs are injected with a needle. People who smoke or snort drugs with xylazine may still get these wounds on their body.</li></ul><h2>Why does it take so long for MEs to connect the drug to the cause of death?</h2><ul><li>Proving that a drug/several drugs were the cause of death requires a number of steps</li></ul>- Overdose must be suspected at the time of death to prompt blood testing for substances that can cause overdose- The sample must be evaluated at a lab that is specifically designed and certified to test blood from deceased people to ensure accuracy of results. Few labs have this capability.- Depending on the lab, they may not have the equipment and/or staffing to process samples real-time.- Once there is a confirmed lab result, the results must be reviewed by a highly specialized physician and taken into consideration with all other findings at the time of death to determine the most likely cause or causes of death. There are very few of these specialists in Oregon and across the US, and with the pandemic as well as increasing rates of overdose death they have been increasingly busy.- The current time required to go from suspected overdose to confirmed overdose is a product of all of these inputs- the number of cases requiring this analysis compared to the human and material resources required to complete each analysis.<ul><li>There is current legislation under consideration to expand medical toxicology testing and death certification capacity in our state, which may help reduce these turnaround times.</li></ul>What is the county doing to raise awareness and combat the presence of the drug in our communities?Over the last several months, the Health Department has incorporated information about xylazine into our harm reduction outreach with the community. This will continue alongside expanded outreach, including:<ul><li>Development of dedicated communications plans to broaden the reach of evidence-based, accurate information across the community, with emphasis on reaching those most likely to be impacted by this substance.</li></ul><ul><li>A clinician alert to raise awareness among physicians and healthcare providers in the tri-county area was sent out to more than 1500 professionals yesterday, April 19, 2023. The clinician alert can be found here: https://www.multco.us/health-officer/news/clinician-alert-xylazine-portland-metro-area</li></ul><ul><li>Continue to share resources for those individuals who may be responding to overdoses/caring for individuals who use drugs</li></ul><ul><li>Continue surveillance efforts:</li></ul>- The experiences of drug users in our area- changes in wounds, changes in how often they experience overdose or help others who are overdosing, changes in how their bodies feel when using drugs- Test results from local drug testing and serum tests collected in health care settings or at the time of death- Monitoring trends in other parts of the Pacific Northwest<ul><li>Optimization of real-time awareness of local drug trends through state and local policy efforts.</li></ul></div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

'Tranq' contributed to Portland-area overdose death, county says

PORTLAND, Ore. — Multnomah County has confirmed to KATU News that the drug known as \"tranq\" was found in the system of a person who died of an overdose in late 2022. Tranq is the street name for a veterinary tranquilizer called xylazine, which is often mixed with opioids.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Multnomah County has confirmed to KATU News that the drug known as "tranq" was found in the system of a person who died of an overdose in late 2022. Tranq is the street name for a veterinary tranquilizer called xylazine, which is often mixed with opioids.