The city of Henderson is hosting a fentanyl awareness summit on Tuesday to highlight the drug's devastating effects on communities.
Law enforcement members across the country are also sounding the alarm on trends making the drug even more dangerous.
Fake pills laced with fentanyl have led to more than 100,000 overdose deaths nationwide, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The agency recently launched a campaign called One Pill Can Kill.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Detective Josh Garber said xylazine, a powerful tranquilizer used by veterinarians for cattle and large animals, is being used to "increase the profit margin."
“The majority of how we’re seeing it here is either in the pill form or powder form. So they’re using it to cut the drug so they have less fentanyl and more xylazine. Xylazine is super cheap to purchase," said Garber.
When it’s combined with fentanyl, Garber said it’s called “tranq.”
Opioid-reversing options are not effective against xylazine.
“Narcan is only to reverse the effects of opioids, so xylazine is not an opioid,” Garber said.
Fentanyl and xylazine both have legitimate uses. But unlike fentanyl, xylazine is not a controlled substance.
Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto last month introduced a bill called the Combating Illicit Xylazine Act, which would classify the drug as a Schedule III substance, but still allow it to be used for its intended purpose.
The FDA approved the drug for veterinary use in the 1970s, but xylazine has not been approved for human use.
