…street name rhino tranq, a nonopioid tranquilizer with roots in veterinary medicine that somehow found its way into the illegal drug supply in many American cities– most prominently Philadelphia, but also reportedly identified in Baltimore, Washington DC, Chicago, Detroit, and St. Louis, among others.
Here’s something on the spread of rhino tranq in the Northeast:
A Powerful New Drug Is Creating a ‘Withdrawal Crisis’ in Philadelphia
Like its relative xylazine, medetomidine is especially dangerous to humans when found with fentanyl. A fentanyl overdose can usually be reversed by naloxone, but where medetomidine is present, the risk of death continues.
Then there is the issue of physical dependence and a dangerous, perhaps even life-threatening withdrawal syndrome, if use of the drug is abruptly ceased without benefit of a taper.
According to the literature, medetomidine withdrawal can precipitate “tachycardia, severe hypertension, waxing and waning alertness, tremor, and intractable nausea and vomiting.” Symptoms that severe can indeed result in a crisis.
We’re advised that there is an antagonist, Atipamezole, capable of reversing acute effects of medetomidine overdose, but as yet it is not approved for human use. That’s allegedly because the antagonist could conceivably trigger withdrawal severe enough to be life-threatening.
For more on the specifics of medetomidine withdrawal, see this link:
Rumor on the streets of Philadelphia is that some unscrupulous dealers have been giving away free samples of drugs containing rhino tranq and fentanyl, in an attempt to attract new customers. The end result: a trip to the Emergency Room and a stay in the ICU– if the user is lucky.
“Are these dealers just going to keep coming with new crap to pollute the drug supply even more than it already is?” demanded one counselor.
I expect so. This is a battle that is far from over. Meanwhile, stay alert for signs that rhino tranq has found its way into your community.
