AUSTIN (TEXAS) – In March 2023, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, or DEA, issued an alert about the widespread threat of fentanyl with xylazine, or tranq – a non-opiate sedative authorized in the U.S. only for veterinary use.
Several months later, Travis County announced its first overdose deaths in which xylazine was detected during someone’s autopsy. Since then, xylazine deaths have not significantly increased in Travis County, according to officials.
“I've seen some usage of it in Travis County based on autopsies of people who've died of overdoses. It's not in a number that has been increasing sharply the way we've seen how fentanyl has increased over the years,” said Travis County Judge Andy Brown.
"People don't seek out xylazine as a standalone drug in Travis County," Brown continued. "It is more often paired with fentanyl by whoever it is that's making the fentanyl to enhance the effects."
Brown noted the opioid-reversal drug naloxone, or Narcan, does not respond to a xylazine overdose. Because it is often mixed with other opioids, naloxone should still be administered if it appears a person is having an opioid-related overdose.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told KXAN that Texans should still be wary of the substance despite there being no dramatic increases in 2024.
“I hope the efforts at the state and local level are effective [at fighting xylazine]. I think it is premature to celebrate – this is a drug that we have seen rising and becoming more dangerous,” Cruz told KXAN.
In April 2023, Senators Cruz and Peter Welch (D-Vermont) introduced the Testing, Rapid Analysis, and Narcotic Quality (TRANQ) Research Act to develop new tests for detection and establish better resources for the people working with the affected communities.
“That was focused on directing the National Institute of Science and Technology to study means of detection. Because tranq is not an opioid, the typical means of detection and treatment don't work,” Cruz said.
Earlier this year, Cruz said he teamed up with Senator Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) to file the STOP TRANQ Act, which requires the Department of State to include reporting on the drug in the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report. That bill secured passage into the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
“This is focused on directing the State Department to include tranq in its international listing and examination of dangerous drugs that are coming from countries all around the world,” Cruz said.
“Tranq has, over the years, been rising, and it is dangerous, in part because we don't know nearly as much about tranq as we do about other drugs, and that's why I've been leading the legislative effort to get prepared,” he continued.
Cruz said he brings his personal experience into his fight against rising overdose deaths.
“I will say every family in America has been touched by the opioid epidemic,” Cruz said. “My older sister Miriam [Cruz] died of a drug overdose, and there's not a family in Texas and across the country that has not been touched in some way. This is tragic, and we need to come together.”
