Dr. Joseph D’Orazio Provides Perspective to the New York Times Following the Designation of Xylazine as an ‘Emerging Drug Threat’

Joseph D’Orazio, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, provided perspective to the New York Times following the designation of xylazine as an “emerging drug threat” by the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy. The move requires the administration to create strategies to enhance law enforcement efforts, health interventions, and data collection to combat it. This marks the first time the office has ever identified a substance for the designation. Xylazine, also known as tranq or tranq dope, is an animal sedative that has been increasingly found in fentanyl and heroin and causes fast-moving necrotic wounds and heavy sedation.