Dangerous animal tranquilizer showing up in N.B. street drugs

Xylazine, a veterinary sedative with effects similar to the depressant benzodiazepine, was identified in a Health Canada report in 2022 as an emerging additive to illegally sold opioids. The federal report showed just five cases of the drug in N.B.’s supply between 2012 and 2022 but harm reduction providers in Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John say the toxic additive is now showing up more often. The drug isn't intended for human consumption and poses a high risk to users, with effects that include loss of consciousness and tissue death that can lead to amputation. Xylazine also increases the risk of an overdose but its effects aren’t reversed by naloxone, a common overdose treatment.