AUDIO – DANGER STRAIGHT AHEAD –
May 8, 2026 – There’s more medetomidine, a veterinary tranquilizer oft referred to as “rhino tranq.” It can lead to hallucinations and immobility and, like xylazine, it’s unfazed by Narcan. There’s more BTMPS, a plasticizer with a fishy smell that can gum up and cause irritation at injection sites, and in nasal passages if snorted, and in lungs if smoked. Testing found that some samples of street-sold fentanyl were up to a quarter BTMPS. “That’s a lot of plastic in your body,” said Traci C. Green, a research scientist at Brandeis and Brown universities.
Green was among the researchers at the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s recent conference in San Diego, updating clinicians on the latest “cuts” in fentanyl products trading on the streets.
It’s “whack-a-mole” with additives, she said, and inconsistencies in purity and potency affect withdrawal, tolerance and overdose risk.
“The drug supply has never been more dangerous and unpredictable,” said Dr. Timothy J. Wiegand, moderator at the “Understanding the Evolving Drug Landscape: From Epidemiology to Clinical Practice” session.
