Eight people overdose on animal tranquilizer in Clarendon County
MANNING, S.C. (WIS) - According to an addiction treatment center in Manning a dangerous new drug is on the streets of Clarendon County.
The drug in question is Xylazine, an animal tranquilizer known by users as “Tranq”.
Clarendon Behavioral Health Services announced the overdose of six adults and two adolescents in one week on a Facebook post last Friday, February 24, 2023.
The post was shared by the Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office and Clarendon County Fire Rescue (CCFR) in an effort to warn the public.
In a written statement on Wednesday, CCFR said they responded to 82 overdose calls in all of 2022. The same agency reported 11 overdose calls in the previous month of February.
Two of these overdoses occurred in juveniles.
“It is not confirmed that [Xylazine] was the drug that was used in the overdoses of the adolescents, it was only suspected,” said CCFR in their statement.
The county sheriff’s office confirmed with WIS that an investigation into one of the juvenile overdoses is ongoing.
Clinical counselors say symptoms include severe skin, bone, and muscle infections for users who inject the drug.
“Anytime [people] use any substance now, it’s playing Russian roulette,” said Tammy Anderson, a clinical counselor for Clarendon Behavioral Health Services.
Anderson says she first heard about Tranq from her patients just a few weeks ago. She says it’s often being mixed with fentanyl.
“Unfortunately, unlike fentanyl which can be reversed with Narcan, Tranq cannot-it will not work,” said Anderson.
The reversal agent of Naloxone, known as Narcan, will not work on this drug as Xylazine is not an opioid.
On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Enforcement Administration (FDA) announced they’re working to restrict the imports of Xylazine to ensure it goes to those legally using it.
The sheriff’s office confirmed that no one in Clarendon County has died as a result of these overdoses.
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