Xylazine Diversion Education Plan

Overview

In her 2024 State of the State Address, Governor Hochul announced a collaborative One Health Initiative to reduce threats to the human-animal-environment interface through activities like disease detection and prevention, food safety education, and veterinary care optimization. 

As part of that, The Department is collaborating with other agencies, including the State Police, the Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS), and the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, to launch a Veterinary Xylazine Diversion Education Program. The initiative aims to combat xylazine abuse and prevent xylazine from being diverted from legitimate veterinary uses.

Xylazine

Xylazine is a non-opioid sedative approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in procedural sedation in large animal veterinary medicine. Xylazine is not FDA-approved for human use. Despite this, illicit xylazine is increasingly showing up as an additive to illegally manufactured fentanyl and other narcotics as xylazine is known to extend the duration of effect that fentanyl has in persons using it. In humans, xylazine causes severe central nervous system depression, potentially contributing to muscle relaxation of the tongue, which can block the airway and prevent a person from breathing. Other complications resulting from human use of xylazine include pressure ulcers, blood clots, compartment syndrome, severe skin wounds known as eschars, and rhabdomyolysis (a medical condition that occurs when muscle tissue breaks down potentially damaging the liver and kidneys). There is no FDA-approved reversal agent for xylazine in humans, increasing the risk of overdose.

Prevention

To prevent diversion from veterinary channels, veterinarians are urged to maintain detailed records of xylazine inventory and prescription, perform random checks of recorded inventory versus actual supply, maintain safe storage practices, secure disposal of used and expired inventory, keep only minimum necessary supply of xylazine on hand, and review security protocols regularly with staff.