KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Overdose deaths involving the drug "tranq" rose to a new high across East Tennessee for the first time, the Knox County Regional Forensic Center said. Across the center's 21 counties, 106 people who died of overdoses had tranq, or Xylazine, in their bodies — over the first nine months of this year.
Xylazine is legal for use by veterinarians as a tranquilizer for animals. The Drug Enforcement Agency said it's used as an adulterant—which means it's mixed with other drugs, like heroin or fentanyl, to reduce the amount of money drug makers have to spend on a mixture and increase their profits.
Xylazine is sometimes called the "Zombie Drug," because it slows brain activity, breathing and heart rates. Those who inject the drug are at risk of amputation thanks to disfiguring sores.
In Knox County, Xylazine contributed to 67 drug-related deaths from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30. The county reported its first Xylazine-related death in 2018.
"It's not just came in, it's trying to take over," said Chris Thomas, the Knox County Regional Forensic Center Director.
The graph below shows how quickly tranq-related deaths grew across the Regional Forensic Center's 21 counties.
"We're not talking about drugs. We're talking about poisons now," said Tommy Farmer, the Tennessee Dangerous Drugs Task Force Director. "It's not a matter of, 'Does my fentanyl have xylazine in it?' It's a matter of, 'Yes, it does have Xylazine in it.'"
Federal drug investigators also said Xylazine can prolong a user's high.
"If there's something they can get their hands on, that's cheap, that can intensify the high or the effects, or even stretch the amount of drugs," Farmer said. "Those are going to be ways that they can increase their profit margin."
Between 2020 and 2021, the number of Xylazine-positive drug deaths in the southeast increased by more than 1,000%, the DEA said.