LYNNWOOD, Wash. — Lynnwood police Sgt. Lindsay Pool said the department is getting more calls about people who are passed out, unresponsive on the roads.
Police are seeing more overdoses that are more resistant to the opioid antidote Narcan, something they'd typically be able to use to quickly save lives.
"Typically somebody has already been given a dose of Narcan. Then another officer arrives and has to give another dose of Narcan and sometimes a third dose. Then the individual comes back," said Pool.
Lynnwood police recently put out a social media alert warning people about the situation.
In the first six months of this year, the department responded to 21 overdose incidents with 35 doses of Narcan.
That's almost double the first six months of last year.
Lynnwood police believe the drug is a powerful animal tranquilizer called Xylazine, known on the streets as "tranq."
However, substance use disorder expert Dr. Thomas Robey said there is no evidence of that.
In his research at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Robey has determined the drug is actually an extremely potent form of fentanyl.
"If someone needs multiple doses of Narcan to be revived, that just speaks to the potency of the fentanyl we're seeing on the street," Robey said.
Emergency department doctors like Robey are seeing more and more people overdosing on this more potent type of fentanyl.
"It's a nasty, nasty drug," said Robey.
The numbers are disturbing.
In 2018 Snohomish County saw 160 overdose deaths.
Most of them were due to opioids.
That number has gone up every year since -- setting new records along the way.
So far this year there have been at least 171 overdose fatalities -- on track to set another record.
"We're finding patients who sometimes need to be on a drip of Narcan just to keep them alive," said Robey.
For now, police keep doses of Narcan handy, hoping for a cure to this crisis.
"It's like these people get lost in their addiction where they forget that they matter," said Pool.
Robey said while tranq isn't in Western Washington yet, it's just a matter of time.