New drug threat in Columbus raises concerns for first responders
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The city of Columbus is seeing a new drug on the streets, xylazine.
“It’s new to the city,” said Columbus Fire and Rescue Public Information Officer and Fire Life Safety Educator Jaquay Sherrod. “We have a couple of people and a couple of different agencies saying it’s something new they haven’t seen before, either.”
Used as a sedative for animals, Jaquay Sherrod with Columbus Fire and Rescue said xylazine or “Tranq” has been making rounds in Columbus.
Director of the Forensic Crime Lab in Columbus, Claudette Gilman, said she has only seen a couple of cases of it, but she knew this was serious.
“When I realized it was making the rounds, it was very scary,” Gilman said. “So I wanted to make department heads aware, as well as the Mayor and C.O.O., that this is what we’re seeing and it’s a community issue and we need to let people know this is out there.”
The Columbus Police Department provided WCBI with an interview with Public Information Officer Bryan Moore, who said the department wants citizens to be aware of these dangers and help them get the drug off the streets.
“Tranq is xylazine and fentanyl mixed together,” Moore said. “On the streets, most drugs that involve those are oxycodone. It’s hard to tell the difference in a fake oxycodone and a real oxycodone. So, because these pills are so similar in appearance, it’s hard to tell the difference between the street drug called tranq and the prescribed drug, oxycodone.”
Gilman said the combinations she’s seeing are coming in as a counterfeit pharmaceutical pill disguised as oxycodone.
Sherrod said this drug is heavily sedating to users, and Narcan does not pull the victim out of the trance.
Gilman says the drug is more alarming in a sense of what will reverse the effects of the xylazine in combination drugs.
“It’s more of a danger if you’re out there seeing it, and you’re thinking it’s just fentanyl and it’s not working, you’re wondering what’s going on,” Gilman said.
However, the Narcan will still counteract the effects of the fentanyl if it is mixed with xylazine.
“From my understanding, I think it’s being introduced to drugs now to make the drug stronger and to add weight to the drug,” Sherrod said.
“Its scary for the people using and it’s scary for the first responders and definitely lab staff because we’re all coming into contact with it and at this moment, we don’t know how to reverse the effects.”
Since the Narcan isn’t always effective against sedation, Sherrod says the department has been going back to the basics, treating it as a life-threatening situation the best way they know how.
Sherrod said the biggest concern is the uncertainty that comes with the new drug.
“Knowing what to do, it’s going to tie up resources longer from the information that we’re getting in on how to treat it, so that means we are gonna have guys on scene longer. We’re gonna be needing more advanced help as well. There’s a world of other things that gonna come down the line. Right now, we’re just taking it bit by bit,” Sherrod said.
Anyone who witnesses an overdose should call 911, administer Narcan if possible, and don’t leave the person unattended.
Sherrod emphasizes to still use Narcan. He said the drug is still new to them, so the department is looking more into it for more ways to combat it.
WCBI has also reached out to the Mississippi State Department of Health to hear their perspective on a statewide scale.
