Tranq dope, the street drug linked to severe skin wounds and amputations, has spread to at least 48 states, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The agency said there’s been a “sharp increase” in the trafficking of tranq, which is usually a combination of fentanyl and the animal tranquilizer xylazine. Xylazine is not approved for human use in the U.S. but it is not a federally scheduled drug.

The DEA said it has seized xylazine and fentanyl mixtures in 48 of 50 states and that last year, 23 percent of fentanyl powder and 7 percent of fentanyl pills seized contained xylazine.

“Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier,” said DEA Administrator Ann Milgram in the alert, which noted  people who inject tranq “can develop severe wounds, including necrosis—the rotting of human tissue—that may lead to amputation.”

Read more: https://www.vice.com/en/article/4a3y4n/fentanyl-xylazine-drug-dea-public-safety-alert-tranq