White House releases plan to mobilize US government against deadly fentanyl-xylazine mix

The White House on Tuesday released a national plan to address the problem of fentanyl combined with xylazine, a combination of drugs that it had designated an emerging threat in April. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the drug combination has been involved in a rapidly increasing number of deaths over the last three years.

“With this national response plan, we are launching coordinated efforts across all of government to ensure we are using every lever we have to protect public health and public safety, and save lives,” Dr. Rahul Gupta, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said in a statement.

Xylazine is a veterinary tranquilizer that is not approved for use by humans. It is often combined with the synthetic painkiller fentanyl to prolong its effect. Fentanyl is an addictive opioid that the National Institute on Drug Abuse describes as similar to morphine, but “50 to 100 times more potent.”

A December 2022 CDC report determined that drug overdoses, along with the COVID-19 pandemic, contributed to lowering life expectancy for Americans to its lowest level in 25 years. The study determined that deaths from synthetic opioids like fentanyl increased by 22% in 2021. A June 30 report from the agency found that deaths involving illegally manufactured fentanyl using xylazine increased 276% between January 2019 and June 2022.

The White House said on Tuesday that the goal of the plan is a 15% decrease in deaths related to xylazine in at least 75% of the United States by 2025. The plan will involve further testing, collecting data, reducing the supply of the drugs, and creating a response protocol for related overdoses.

During his presidential campaign in 2016, former President Donald Trump focused on the opioid crisis and promised to end it. But during his time in office, his administration proposed budget cuts to ONDCP.

President Joe Biden campaigned in 2020 with plans to address the opioid problem and since taking office has signed legislation that has made it easier for doctors to prescribe medicine used to treat opioid addiction.

In 2022, the Office of National Drug Control Policy released a national strategy designed to address the opioid crisis by expanding access to addiction treatment and cracking down on drug trafficking.

“It’s time we treat addiction like any other disease. And at the same time, we are disrupting drug traffickers’ financial networks, supply chains, and delivery routes, including on the internet,” Biden said in a statement released on April 21, 2002.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.