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In her shattered Philadelphia neighborhood, and increasingly in drug hot zones around the country, an animal tranquilizer called xylazine — known by street names like “tranq,” “tranq dope” and “zombie drug” — is being used to bulk up illicit fentanyl, making its impact even more devastating. Xylazine causes wounds that erupt with a scaly dead tissue called eschar; untreated, they can lead to amputation. (Hoffman, 1/7)

“It should send a loud and clear message to drug dealers and drug traffickers,” Cole Finegan, the U.S. attorney for the District of Colorado, said in a news release. “Our law enforcement partners will track you down and we will prosecute you if you peddle this poison in our communities. Lives are at stake, and we will use every available tool to combat this deadly epidemic and stop these tragic losses.” (Melnick, 1/9)

Addiction is hitting virtually all Mainers, regardless of wealth, education or location, something state Sen. Brad Farrin knows personally. Farrin’s 26-year-old daughter, Haley, was working at her accounting job one day in July. The next day, she died of a fentanyl overdose. (Marino Jr., 1/9)

Sam Quinones, one of the nation’s foremost chroniclers of American drug abuse, took a stroll around San Francisco’s Tenderloin last week to take a hard look at the beleaguered neighborhood’s street addict scene. Like anyone else who’s taken that stroll lately, he saw the brazen fentanyl and methamphetamine use — and the grim consequences of unchecked addiction — that’s become a dispiriting calling card for that part of town. Nothing much surprised him. (Fagan, 1/8)

Monica Clayton was standing in line at a Burger King on Market Street in downtown San Francisco just before 7 a.m. when a frantic man ran into the restaurant. “Somebody call 911, my girlfriend is overdosing,” he yelled. (Arredondo, 1/7)