• Philadelphia was once known for having the “purest heroin in the nation,” city health officials say, but now the city’s opioid supply has been overtaken by an animal tranquilizer linked to thousands of drug overdoses across the nation.
•  Xylazine, known on the streets as “tranq,” can be lethal, when mixed with heroin or fentanyl, and causes nasty wounds and sores that can result in amputations.
• Some are injecting the drug unwittingly, while others seek out the sedative to lengthen the high of traditional opioids, city health officials told Axios.
• Typically used for large animals, such as horses, xylazine is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for human consumption. Overdose reversal drugs like naloxone won’t halt its effects.

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