Appalachia has a substance abuse problem. We’ve known that for generations. Among the reasons the problem seems so much worse over the past decade or so is the frightening pace at which it evolves. News outlets regularly report new substances in our region, new ways in which those substances are being consumed, and even the need to beware of what might be tainting other substances.

Here we’ve gone from criminal “doctors,” pharmacists, pharmaceutical companies and distributors sparking an out-of-control opioid epidemic, to regularly hearing about fentanyl, new forms of methamphetamines and now xylazine. “Tranq,” “tranq dope” and “zombie drug,” are just a few of xylazine’s aliases. It is a veterinary tranquilizer that gets diluted with other chemicals into street drugs to increase profit, according to Narconon. It causes wounds that spread and worsen, and can eventually lead to amputation. It is increasingly linked to fentanyl overdose deaths because, while it often accompanies an opioid, its effects are not reversed by naloxone.

“Xylazine is destroying people and adding to the overdose rates,” said Narconon’s Matthew Goodson. “It is so new there are many unknowns when using it. If you or a loved one are using drugs and suspect Xylazine is laced in them, don’t wait; get help before it’s too late.”

The help to which Goodson is referring is not just the immediate help of getting to a hospital to deal with the effects of the drug. It is also the help necessary to beat the addiction that leads people to these kinds of horrors in the first place.

Narconon is one of the organizations that can help, of course, but there are many resources. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration can give information and treatment referral at 1-800-662-4357.

Every day it seems as though the substance abuse plague we have been fighting for decades gets more deadly, destroys more families, damages more communities. Whether it be for yourself or someone you’ve been trying to figure out how to help, now is the time.