Xylazine: What It Is, and Why It's Changing Overdose Response
Not an opioid. Not reversed by naloxone. Increasingly in the fentanyl supply — and leaving characteristic wounds.
Body: [Clear explainer: xylazine is a veterinary sedative (“tranq”), not a scheduled drug, appearing across the illicit opioid supply. Naloxone reverses the fentanyl component of an overdose but not the xylazine sedation — supportive breathing and 911 still required. The wound pattern is characteristic (necrotic ulcers unrelated to injection site). Test strip availability is expanding. Includes geographic spread data, treatment implications, and regulatory response. 900 words.]
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