ATLANTA — Street drugs laced with a tranquilizer are worrying health leaders across the country - and now Georgia can help equip people to make sure there's no xylazine in whatever they may come across.
It's a veterinary tranquilizer — not an opiate — which means naloxone, or NARCAN, doesn't work.
"Naloxone is only effective on opiates," said Brian Kite with the Georgia Council for Recovery. "People can recover, but only if they're alive."
The Georgia Department of Public Health said a xylazine overdose can mimic an opioid overdose. Repeated injection of the drug can also result in severe, necrotic skin ulcerations
Fifteen people died from an overdose involving xylazine in 2020. Nearly 12 times as many people — 183 — died from an overdose involving the tranquilizer in 2022, according to GDPH. Fentanyl contributed to those deaths as well.
A new tool — xylazine test strips — could help prevent some of those deaths.
"It's really important that people are aware of what's in their drugs," Kite said. "(The strips give) the ability to test their drugs before they use them to make sure that if it is in fact contaminated with xylazine, they're well aware."
The test strips can detect whether a substance contains xylazine in a matter of minutes. They work just like fentanyl test strips, which studies show have led to people changing how they use illicit drugs.
"If people don't care, then people like myself who are in long-term recovery may not have the opportunity to get there," Kite said. "I'm tired of going to funerals and I want more people to stay alive."
The test strips are available through the Georgia Council for Recovery.